To be falling out of love with lidl?

[Vistada]

I love the aldi / lidl business models, they fascinate me.

I've always liked lidl but lately I think I've fallen out of love with it because their quality is starting to take the piss.

Veg already rotten

Chicken thigh fillets that are no more than what you would find in a wing

Queues down the shop

And don't get me started on the packaging, they're clearly cutting a lot of corners here to keep prices low, manys a time lately that I've had to throw away things away upon unpacking because the packaging has broken in transit (predominantly fish / meat which is really fcking annoying)

Aibu to think lidl are at risk of losing their hard won market share as quick as they gained it if they don't stop taking the piss as currently I'd happily pay 20% more for halfway decent food

Our Lidl is fairly small and always been like this since it opened in 2014 ( I think it was then )
I gave up on it a while back , but you can't deny it is much cheaper than the likes of Sainsbury’s or tesco. I don't have an Aldi near me , but they are meant to be better I think.

Why are you throwing out food if you know the packaging was intact when you bought it? That's just wasteful.

I'd happily pay 20% more for halfway decent food

Then go to Tescos or Waitrose or a supermarket that isn't a discount one.

I completely agree; the whole veg situation is especially annoying although the government are partly to blame by allowing supermarkets to stop putting sell by dates on things. The aim, they said, was to reduce wastage. It does for super.arkets but not for customers. I am throwing a lot more veg away now because it isn't lasting more than a couple of days in some instances.
I was so fed up last week that l went and bought my veg from a farm shop - at 4 times the price. I can't do that every week.

I'm finding the choices a bit dull recently. I generally prefer Aldi...they have more interesting products imo.

Apart from the bakery, yeh - Lidl is pretty crap now. I much prefer Aldi but even then you have to shop smart, although I've not found any quality issues, Morrisons currently have many fruits cheaper

Hate the place, can’t stand the smell the ones in our local area all have the same smell just vile.

There's a new one near us now, it's our nearest store other than local co-op. DH does the shopping - he's decided it's useful for milk, yogurt, some veg and fruit if very carefully inspected, and Parmesan. He's not convinced by the quality of other things and says some of the fruit and veg is really ropey.

So he goes a bit further to Asda for the 'big shop', and Waitrose or M&S for meat and fish. (Retired, so he's got the time, most people don't )

I'm not keen on Lidl - much prefer Aldi, seems to be more choice to me.
A new Lidl opened in our town this year, it's been handy for when we run out of something, cheap basics (flour etc) & special buys (plants!) but I'd never be able to do a full shop there.
Agree about the weird smell too!

I know what you mean. I like the prices compared to other supermarkets however. Only problem is, every time I go, I seem to get into arguments with people. Never happens anywhere else. Maybe it is because you're on top of one another, no space?

Hate Aldi and Lidl. Veg doesn't last, can't buy half the things on my list and instead I buy unnecessary things not on my list. With Sainsbury's, I go in buy everything I need with smart shop and leave in much less time.

There's nothing in Lidl that excites me. It's only where I go for nuts, cereal and raw ingredients (and even then, if rather go to an independent shop).

I've been burned several times, the last eat of which was mouldy Mozzerella, picked up 20 minutes beforehand.

I don't want to have to worry there's a caterpillar or some awful thing in my food.

The meat is cheap, so you know the welfare standards are the pits. No organic option for meat or milk.

Not great.

One of the many reasons l stopped going. It was so aggressive.

Both Aldi and Lidl smelt of stale milk all the time.

I thought the only thing worth buying was pasta, dairy, deli meats and cleaning stuff.

Fruit and veg lasted about 2 days.

Do miss the chocolate though.

You aren’t wrong about quality slipping in Aldi and Lidl, especially fruit and veg in my experience but if you are happy to pay 20% more then why not shop at Asda, Tesco, sainsburys etc - my shopping is only every marginally cheaper at Aldi or Lidl anyway now, used to be a much bigger saving but their prices have creeped up.

The prices aren't great either.

Niche example but I love pomegranates and eat one a day. They used to be 89p, then 99p, they're now £1.19 in Lidl! They're £1.20 in Sainsbury's so not much point in going there.

New large Lidl and Aldi quite close to me, but rarely go to either and usually only for something from the ‘isle of randomness’ or a ‘special’ like Lidl’s current ‘Alpine week’. Almost never buy fresh produce now as it doesn’t stay fresh and my local M&S and Tesco’s quality is better and worth the extra money, as there is no waste.
I remember when Lidl first came to the UK and it was an adventure and great to find tinned foods and biscuits that we had only previously seen abroad on holidays, like cassoulet, Würst, gelato and similar that weren’t seen in the UK supermarkets at that time, and regarded with some suspicion by many people who’d not been abroad (I am getting on a bit 😂). But both the supermarkets have changed to suit ‘British tastes’ 🧐, so now these are more usually only seen in ‘Specials’ weeks.

I tried Lidl a few times and the veg went off too fast. I now use Ocado and her lots of Ocado own brand stuff. It’s such good quality and lasts so there’s less waste. I may pay slightly more but I can do one shop order and get everything I need and it’ll last the week.

Queues down the shop lol.
That's what they want it means business is good.
They are very efficient at the tills and they move quickly though.

I like the way they do their loyalty thing. It's not points but you get free fruit or bakery items etc.

I don't recognise any of those issues at our local Lidl.

I agree and I’m a long-term Lidl fan. I still love their theme weeks and I buy their excellent cleaning products, German cooked meats, chocolate etc but they are trying my patience because their stock availability is poor, and many of their stores round here have become an obviously understaffed shambles. Not as bad as Asda, to be fair, but they have still cut too many corners.

I now prefer the experience of shopping at Aldi, which is not something I thought I would ever say.

Nor me. We shop at Lidl every week, and it's always fine. I think the Lidl Plus offers are worse than they were, but I still think they're better than offers from other supermarkets, and I do like the 10% off that we get every four weeks.

I've just had two weeks of delicious tiramisu from them, though, so I am biased. Also, they've FINALLY brought the cheese twists back, although only as a special guest, disappointingly.

I never buy from discount grocery shops. The food is always low quality and the risk of food poisoning from products that have gone off is too high. I’d rather eat less to keep my food bill down.

I have been in Aldi and Lidl with a close friend on her food shop who loves them but frankly has the food hygiene of a goat with the strong stomach and palate to match.

I do my main shop at our local Lidl store every week. I have never got into an argument with anyone in there. They always open extra tills if a queue starts building up. The store doesn't smell. The veg that I buy lasts at least a week (if not longer) in my fridge. If a particular fruit or veg doesn't look fresh on the shop shelf then I don't buy it.
I regularly buy chicken and fish products there and have never had a problem. I prefer their corn fed chickens to the ones available in our local butchers (which all come from the chicken processing plant 1 mile from my home). I can't believe my store is unique!

I’ve gone back to Tesco recently. Prices don’t seem to be much more if you shop around and I think the quality at Lidl has gone down and/or they’ve really reduced the size of lots of their products.

Their cleaning products are good. Some fruit and veg ok, but I never buy their meat. It’s poor quality.