To think I might be missing something to have totally had my head turned to Aldi?!

[Ipll]

I used to shop mainly in Waitrose, sometimes Tesco or Morrisons.

A couple of weeks ago I nipped into Waitrose to get three pretty mundane items and it came to 17 pounds. I decided enough was enough and it was time to see what else was out there, having previously been adamant I wouldn’t be interested in somewhere like Aldi (yes a bit of a snob when it comes to shopping!).

Anyway, after a few trips to Aldi I am shocked. Incredible and tasty fruit and veg. Great meat options. Biscuits ok. Great middle aisle of books for my daughter. The cost reflects something more manageable and I don’t feel I’m spending huge chunks of money like in Waitrose and Tesco.

I am obsessed 😅

Am I missing something?! Why doesn’t everyone shop there?!

I would say give it some time. When I changed jobs there was Aldi directly across from my building and it is very convenient. Now little less than 3 yrs later I rarely go….short shelf life/ products I like seemed to be inconsistent in flavor and color/ chicken with alot of fat and needing trimming. I hope you continue to enjoy shopping there but I have gone back to a “regular” store. I also think prices have adjusted and aren’t quite as low as 2022 pricing

I do the majority of our weekly shop there, then go to nearby Sainsbury’s for the things I can’t get at Aldi.

I’ve never had any problem with fruit and veg going off. Frankly, I think the other supermarkets club together to come and post on any thread about Aldi to criticise them

Their Specially Selected ranges are always really good.

If you had the time the peefect balance would be:
ALDI: staples like milk, pasta, butter, fruit/veg, cheese, household, etc
ALDI: random one-shot weird and wonderful finds
Standard supermarket: meal plan items you didn't find in ALDI

I find the fresh produce better in our local aldis than in Morrisons and Sainsburys, I went to Sainsburys on Sunday and half the veg was only fit the compost bin, it shouldn’t have even been on the shelves. About the only thing I regularly buy that I can’t get in Aldi is individual soya yogurts. And it’s a much smaller shops so you’re in n out quicker! I don’t rate Lidl at all.

Keep an eye on the prices. Because I shop online & buy mostly the same things each week I know a lot if the Tesco prices. I took a friend shopping the other day as she likes Aldi & doesn't drive (her DH does but has had surgery & can't at the moment!!) & she was very surprised at how many items I said were cheaper at Tesco. Especially if you look at the 'per kg/ml' rate.

If you like it then that’s great , price is not the deciding factor for lots of people myself included personally I don’t find it a pleasant shopping experience so I don’t shop there .

I forgot to mention:

Aldi triple cooker chips in black bag
Wagu fillet steaks
Organic milk
Sheepskin slippers for men £14.99 at Christmas.
Toilet roll
fresh herbs in pots
Massive peppers and aubergines and onions
great nuts
creme fraiche/ cream all great

I shop regularly in lidl but can't get everything I need there, so I tend to alternate with Tesco or Sainsbury's. The lidl bakery bread is better than other supermarkets, I also like their chocolate, ice cream, Greek yoghurt and wine better than the Tesco equivalents. Fruit and veg is very hit and miss though.

Waitrose is a bit mental. If you’re not paying attention you could pick up a pack of 4 peaches that cost £4.75. In Aldi I can just chuck whatever fruit I want in knowing that the price will be reasonable. I’m not a super tight budget so I don’t want the hassle of having to look that closely at how much everything costs.

I can’t get decent fruit or veg from
Aldi or Lidl. Tried different stores locally and it’s all the same, gone rotten within a day. I also find their stores messy and depressing. I don’t buy cheap meat anymore so we buy that for the butchers or M&S. Generally we use home delivery Ocado for weekly shops and some Waitrose bits bought in store to top up, that’s handy as it’s walking distance. We do sometimes go to Tesco and Sainsbury's if we happen to be driving past one. But we don’t want to do multiple shops and the Aldi and Lidl options here just don’t have enough variety. I find all the other supermarkets are all better fruit and veg wise than Aldi and Lidl. Consistently over a 10 year period. Except Asda which has similarly poor fruit and veg and I always regret picking it from there too. No Morrisons here for comparison but I’ve been before when visiting relatives and thought it similar to Tesco.

I love Aldi-it’s my supermarket of choice. I buy fruit and vegetables from the market-but I would whichever supermarket I went to.

I don’t find any difference whatsoever in the fruit and veg from Aldi/Lidl and any other supermarket. I shop at Tesco and Sainsbury’s about once a month and Lidl the rest of the time.

My go to supermarket for price quality variety balance is Sainsbury's. But when i head north im always wowed by booths

Hits for me from the meat selection :

Kansas smokehouse sausages.
Pigs in blankets at christmas (hard to get because the masses descended and stole nearly all of them before I could get there).
Lamb shanks in red wine sauce.

I also had some great ice cream pots the other day but can't remember the name.

Their prices have jumped up recently. I don't find them as competitive any more. Often they don't have usual things in stock, and good luck if you're vegan hoping for them to retain the majority of stuff from their veganuary range.

I know some people are snobby about Aldi but I really like it. It's our closest supermarket so it's very convenient. I've never had an issue with fruit, veg or meat like people claim too. I've even been converted to their own brand beans after being a Heinz snob for decades, not the ketchup though, thats one step too far.

They’re closing the Ripon branch. Heartbroken 💔

I hate Aldi.

Yes. You are the first middle class person to ever venture into an Aldi.
It's not like they have had record growth year on year, won loads of taste-test awards, and have opened up so many shops in the last decade they will be overtaking asda as the third biggest supermarket chain within the next year or so.
It's not like there have been endless think pieces outlining the exact same faux surprise as you "Who knew the plebs actually ate decent food?"
There have even been tv shows with poshos downgrading to Aldi and expressing surprise at the edibility.
Do some people not think stuff is real until it happens to them, ffs?

I don't think Lidl or Aldi are any cheaper than Tesco nor do they have everything I need so would have to go to two supermarkets. I also shop online which saves me adding extras to my trolley that I don't need thus saving money. Neither Lidl nor Aldi do online shopping and I hate the time wasted in going shopping so will stick with Tesco.

I like Aldi too. There are plenty of staff to deal with self checkout tantrums, unlike Sainsbury's, and not as much noise somehow. The quality is on a par with Tesco and Sainsbury's I think. Stock can be a bit hit and miss.
When I get home I compare prices on the receipt against prices on the Tesco app and it averages about 15% cheaper overall each time, comparing like for like/ weight for weight (yes I am sad but my supermarket bill was getting out of hand!).
Clubcard prices are sometimes a bit cheaper, but usually require multi buys. The only thing Aldi is more expensive for is red grapes! And no loyalty card points, but they equate to about 1% off so not much.

I love Aldi but since they stopped doing click and collect, I don’t really go there. I really like the convenience of click and collect or deliveries, and turns out I am happy to pay for that convenience. I do sometimes pop in to stock up on certain things but weekly I’ve gone back to Tesco as it saves so much time doing it online and just collecting or having them deliver. Never had any issues with freshness of produce.

its very much luck of the draw with your local shop, in my experience. Have been in some lovely aldi and lidls but we eat nearly all veggie and I'm lucky to get enough decent veg for two days from our local lidl, plus the bread was visibly mouldy on the shelf once in our local store, which has put me off a bit.

although middle of lidl is addictive

I buy a lot of fruit and salad, Tesco definitely lasts the longest, then Lidl, Morrisons and Aldi last! Their bloomer bread is good, and their chocolate. I shop for work there but my home shopping is all done in Tesco, no real price difference imo but much bigger choice.

FWIW I've just been robbed in the coop, 6 standard items, £28!

Why doesn’t everyone shop there?!

I can't answer that, but I can say no one I know who uses Aldi uses it exclusively. It's a very good shop, but like a lot places, you have to work your way through your purchases to see if you really like everything. For example, I once had Aldi ketchup at someone's house and I swear it is the first & last time I have that stuff anywhere near my gob.

That said, anything else I've ever had from there has been ok, but I do have a wide tolerance for most things when it comes to groceries. My husband is the shopper in our house, and he will patronise Aldi (we have one in walking distance) but his regular haunt is Asda and has been for over 20 years. He finds it's not great this last couple of years in terms of stock availability, and has tried Tesco, but found it was just the same only with different things out of stock, plus it's more difficult to get to.

Reputations stick, both positively and negatively. This is why some household names such as Grundig, Beldray, Tower, and Salter have enjoyed a reprisal in recent years, as people remember them. Likewise it's taken Aldi decades to shake the image of a cut-price supermarket, and to be fair, back in the 1990s it really was an undignified unsophisticated shopping experience. The first time I set foot in one, the woman on the till was ringing up the prices, having memorised them (that was what they had to do in Aldi back then), there was a huge queue, and people being served were saying to her "take this off...how much is it now? OK, take this off as well...". I thought I was never going to get out of the place and it was years before I went back.

Today's Aldi is a world apart from how it used to be.