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

I shop there regularly and haven't experienced any of this.

I don't recognise any of the issues described either. The fresh beef and fish aren't up to the standard of my local butcher or fishmonger but then neither are Tesco or Asda. I buy almost all my fruit and veg in Lidl and it's fine. I buy in season though - nectarines, peaches and strawberries are great now but not in February or November. I do find Lidl avocados consistently shit but that's about all I avoid. Mumsnet recently put me onto Lidl 75p polpa tinned tomatoes which aren't too far off Mutti standard. I use them for normal cooking now and save Mutti for things like tomato sauces.

Things like cereal, tinned beans, pre-cooked sachets of rice are indistinguishable from the other supermarket ranges to me. I stopped buying Cathedral City and moved onto Lidl cheese as it tastes the same but is less crumbly.

The bakery stuff is tasty but don't kid yourself it's not ultra processed junk. Same as the bakery in Tesco or Sainsburys.

We don't usually buy meat from Lidl with us being a mostly vegetarian household.

We go there for basics - bread, milk, eggs, tins, flour, sugar, pasta, rice, lentils stuff like that and it's all fine.

I'm not so keen on their fruit, as I usually find at least one piece from a punnet or bag going mouldy after a few days.

I like the Lidl plus offers and the free bakery or fruit that they do every now and again.

I don't like how they don't have either a self service till or a separate queue for customers who only have a couple of items.

I don't mind Lidl for the reasons I've mentioned but if I were to do a big shop, I'd go to Sainsbury's over Lidl.

I think it depends on which store you go too to.

There is one I will not go to, everything is poked and mauled, and everything in the middle is opened, and chucked back.

There is one which is good, but half hour drive, always clean, everything looks in order etc.

But for along time now, I have found the prices in Sainsbury’s as good, if not better than Lidl.

Milk is the same price, tinned food is definitely better quality and the same.

Sainsburys bakery section doesn’t bankrupt you like Lidl, so sadly for Lidl, it really doesn’t get a lot of my shopping money now.

Since Sainsbury's started price matching I've stopped going to Lidl.

I love Lidl and ours is much cleaner and has nicer products than the Aldi which is pretty filthy and dark and uninspiring.

Same here! I use Aldi and Lidl. Locally both good enough for my weekly shop. My Lidl has more choice but that’s probably because it’s a bigger store.

Yep we get these as well!

butter is butter

it’s not though, is it? There is a huge difference between cheap butter and higher quality butter eg French with sea salt crystals. The latter is much tastier

@GiantHornets of course but if you're buying Tesco butter or Aldi butter then it's butter if that makes sense (obviously spreads, posh butters with salt flakes etc are all different!)
Like milk is milk - again you can get the jersey stuff etc but standard semi skimmed

I sometimes get the fancy Aldi salt butter but I can afford that vs the fancy say Waitrose one

Now I've shopped in Aldi/Lidl for a while I've narrowed down stuff I like and things I actually prefer to other versions. Would say I prefer M&S ready cooked stuff/dips/picnic bits to Aldi but it's not in my budget

@Vistada

I haven't read the whole thread but frankly you are talking utter garbage.

Lidl is my favourite shop to go to as I've never had crap veg or fruit, the meat is normally great and I love the smell of the bakery.

And you are lying about the queue lengths as well. Queues down the shop? Give over. I have four Lidls within close distance and have never had queues 'down the shop'

Troll

Thought this was going to be about the middle aisle, where there just doesn't seem to be any bargains these days. For food and drink I like the bakery's cinnamon buns, fizzy water, blackberries have been good, Greek yoghurt is ok, babybels seem a decent price. Cured meats have been good on occasion.

Object to them stocking knock off cereals aimed at kids, often from low income families, that don't have the added vitamins! All other own-brand supermarket ones do.

I shop in Lidl all the time since moving to NI, because Lidl NI use Northern Irish and Irish producers , all the meat and fish is farmed here here on the Island of Ireland and I have never once had a ropey steak, I find the quality of the meat and fish to be very good, esp compared to Asda which is usually all from the EU . Irish and NI welfare standards are some of the best in the world

The cheeses are exceptionally good, the in store bakery is the best out of all the supermarkets we have here , never had a problem with either the fruit or veg.

Regular on the shopping list is UHT milk - 68p a litre compared to £1.20 in tesco ( I make yoghurt ) , the cheeses, deli meats, fresh orange, butter, milk ( the latter coming from the dairy just 10 miles down the road ) pet food, cleaning products , tinned toms and beans

We dont have Aldi here, so we dont get the Aldi price matching so there is a huge price difference between shopping in Lidl and say Tesco

Shortages and out of stocks are annoying , but we have had that problem in all the supermarkets, only now just easing with the introduction of new cross border protocols

When I go over to Scotland and we have the car, I take advantage of having access to Aldi Scotland and the beautiful range of Scottish produce sold there and I like to pop into Morrisons and Waitrose - 2 others stores I miss

Worth going in for the dark chocolate with raspberry bits in.
and the croissants

I used to love LIDL more than my husband. But things changed.
I have 3 Lidls near me and staff is terrible, super dirty shelves, expired products, etc.
I prefer Aldi these days, issues with products too but staff is waaaayy better than LIDL!

the 3 local lidl shops I use are good. Clean. Smelling good Excellent choice and good quality food. Fruit and veg good and I can definitely make some great dishes from the fresh ingredients. Also if times just right lots of bargains to be had with fresh meat and fish

If you have 4 nearby that’s probably why you have no queues.

We have one that serves the entire west and north west of a big city. Loads of queues ….and arguments.

I tend to only buy alcohol and cleaning stuff from Aldi and Lidl, although I recently discovered Home Bargains! I have thought the food was poor for some time now, fruit and veg go off quick, you can taste the water a lot of the meat is pumped full of - I guess that is how they keep prices low. For my shops it tends to be no more than a £15 difference from Sainsburys, so I prefer to get what I think is tastier food from Sainsburys. Don't think you are being unreasonable and notice that both Aldi and Lidl prices sky rocket at Xmas.

Or

And hear me out

I've had a different experience to you.

Is your little mind blown in your echo chamber my love?

I only really go in there for their bakery, iced coffee, choclate hazelnut Cereal and 2ltr refill of washing up liquid, I bought some potatoes recently and they were all black inside. I do like their clothes though

I prefer scan and shop for the big weekly shop so use Tesco and Sainsbury’s. We do have a Lidl and Aldi in walking distance for top ups. Veg and fruit is fine if you look for the freshest code and go to the boxes underneath or at the back of the pile. However, I use it in a couple of days anyway because we just walk to get more. Costco’s fruit and veg goes off quick I find.

Yanbu, its not worth a separate trip to Aldi/Lidl for the one or two good things they do when the rest is crap. The fruit is cheap but poor quality.

Tesco seems a better balance of price/quality although not perfect.

Why would it be gone off just because it's from Lidl? There are vigorous food safety standards that must be adhered to by ANY food retailer

But that is the minimum standard. Lidl obviously seem to adhere to the very basic as their stuff goes off really quick

The self checkouts are shit at ours