Switching to Aldi from Tesco - UPDATE!

[Throwawayaccount1]

Thank you to everyone who let me know their Aldi experiences about a month ago - I appreciate every over of you!

Here's the update!
We love it!

First off - it's averaging at ~£35 cheaper a shop - which is pretty huge! (For reference we are 2 adults, 2 secondary school kids. Were paying around £180 a week on Tesco).

We were prepared for a quality drop as we were paying less. We absolutely did not get a quality drop. More often the quality and taste was better. The meat eaters have reported back that the meat is WAY better. The vegetarian items from the freezer section are also some of the best I've had. The yogurts and ice cream were way better (I was concerned about these). So far toiletry wise we've tried the shower gel and 'fake' sure deodorant - both great.

We love how many of the items are British.

We seem to have lucked out with one where the fruit and veg lasts - phew!

There's literally a few items which we wouldn't get again, none of which are a big deal. So great news!

Absolutely loving spotting the dupes, my oldest comes with me and he finds them hilarious.

The checkout is becoming less stressful - haha!

I would fully recommend to anyone to make the swap.

(Oh yeah, and you get to treat yourself to the bakery as a reward, hello pistachio croissant!)

Thanks everyone!!!!

I don’t want to throw a spanner in the works but we have recently switched to Ocado and we are spending exactly the same as we did at Aldi! I do love Aldi, especially the washing pods and toilet rolls which I still buy from there etc, but we are definitely Ocado converts now…

To deal with the checkout, buy a plasterers bucket. That way you can just scoop it all in then carry to the car.

I am an Aldi fan! But I actually think you have lucked out on your store OP.
I tried hard to keep my family on Aldi but eventually had to switch away to Morrisons (who I'm also not a big fan of, but annoyingly that's the only other option for us). I still buy some stuff from Aldi especially their cupboard staples but actually it didn't save us any more either.

Congratulations on cutting down your food shop OP!

What wouldn't you buy again, Op?

No to Aldi. Their packed fresh veg has always rotten bits in it. As for the meat? You pay a lot for that added water. Basics such as pasta or tinned foods aren't cheaper than other supermarkets.

Whereabouts do Aldis have bakeries? I'm not a Lidl fan apart from the bakery, if I could find an Aldi with one that would be a bonus

Your Aldi has a bakery? I thought only Lidl had those?

But I agree, Aldi source locally, and offer quality at lower prices. The only potential flaw in a money saving plan is if you accidentally buy a chain saw…..

I wont buy anything from Lidl bakery. You dot know whose had their grubby fingers all over
it

Well, as the saying goes, you do you 😁

Keep you spanners to yourself for the moment. I'm not mentally prepared to make another change!!!! 😂

This was what I thought might happen/my concern. There was very much a "there's good aldi's and bad Aldi's" on my first post. It's pretty new, so I wonder if that helped?

It's only been sad for the meat eaters:

• The fresh chicken Kiev's. (The garlic bit was vinegary).

• Some of the little fresh pies (filling was a bit dry). We tried the middle and higher priced ones

• Some of the dupe crisps

I must have missed this thread or been foolishly preoccupied with the Shoplifting Tips at Fortnum & Mason one.

Aldi is fab. We are lucky to have a large modern store nearby that I'm a big fan of. Love Lidl as well for all the continental food they bring in. Our Sainsbury's do a Aldi price match which is also very good.

I like my Aldi as I can take all the recycling that I can't put in the household collection box.

Their flowers are lovely. Gladioli's for £1.99 that lasted over two weeks.

edited for unacceptable lazy grammar.

It's quite a new store, so maybe they're going in the new ones. It's just like the Lidl bakery!

@Throwawayaccount1 you may have a good point. Ours is an older store and quite small. It's also in a semi rural town which may affect what they stock and the delivery schedules for fresh food (an absolute no in my current one, even cucumbers don't last)
But the most important thing is you have found it great, cost saving and enjoyable and that's all any of us are really trying to get from our food shop!

We've always had terrible luck with Lidl and Aldi produce. I keep forgetting, trying again and regretting it.

We’ve stopped buying fresh fruit from Aldi because it’s rotten within 2 days - or sometimes less! Store cupboard basics seem to be very hit and miss in terms of availability, that’s something that’s been happening over the past few months, some kind of supply issues? I’m trying hard to keep Aldi for our main weekly shop but I’m having to go to other supermarkets more and more often.

I prefer Aldi to Lidl, but also use Tesco and Sainsbury's when I want stuff they don't stock.
I like the Aldi frozen beige vegetarian range, the cauliflower cheese bakes are lovely, the fake burgers are good. I have to avert my eyes going past the cakes, the 4 pack of mini Victoria sponges are delicious but I scoff the whole packet.
The mushroom pasta ready meal is very good but they don't always stock them.
I went yesterday and was a bit shocked that the Yorkshire tea bags had jumped in price.

That middle section is an absolute risk. I came back with a food waste bin. But, in my defence, it WAS cheaper than the one I was looking at on Amazon, and came with bags, which I needed!

I am finding that not all Aldi's are created equal on the bakery front. It's just like the Lidl one.

Off to find that thread!!!!

I also hate to throw a spanner in the works, but as someone who started using Aldi and Lidl over 10 years ago I don't think the difference is that great, if you just buy ingredients, some are cheaper, but some are more expensive, Ithink if you want the cheapest shop you need to use at least 2 supermarkets- if you use ingredients only. I mostly shop at sainsburys and used to shop at Tesco and TBH I don't think there is more than a sheet of paper between them for ingredients- so you have to shop the offers. Aldi and Lidl scarcely ever do offers worth the name on ingredients anymore.

I suspect you are making a large saving because you are buying different things. In my experience (ignoring the fruit and veg) there are a few things significantly cheaper (EV olive oil £6.09/L compared with £7.70 elsewhere) but the reduced range of items stocked and the hit or miss availability means that I'm always going to have to go to another supermarket as well. I would suggest that you take your Aldi receipt and compare the cost of individual items and the total, with Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury/Morrisons.

To get the savings I put the shop into the Tesco app. I compare against what Tesco option I used to get, (which was mostly own brand). I am not faking savings by comparing Aldi beans to Branston beans (for example).
I'm making the same dinners etc as I used to, so the savings over a month are absolutely comparable.
There was no way I wasn't going to make it a like for like test - I needed to know how it was Vs Tesco.

Consulting my list 😂 for a lot of ingredients (I have a good amount) you're probably right, but for the rest of the stuff the difference in price makes it worth it for me.