Aldi/lidl etc

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archangel

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Anyone shop mainly in any of these 2 shops......and do you feel that you save on your shopping? We shop in our nearest superstore (Sainsbury's) but I think that the food bill is growing weekly.......
 
Canna beat Lidl and Aldi. They put other places to shame with their prices and the quality is usually decent too.
 
I am going to try Aldi next week as it is the next nearest store to us....
 
archangel said:
I am going to try Aldi next week as it is the next nearest store to us....
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We tend to use Aldi more than Lidl, for that very reason. Both worth a visit tho. The days of being embarrassed to be seen carrying a Lidl/Aldi bag are long gone. I think both have proven their credibility.
 
I also pass a lidl every morning when leaving the boss off at get work
 
Aldi for sure! good food good price, the amount of times i have a trolley load and panic only to find it's not cost as much as i thought, yet in tesco it would have been ridiculous...
 
On the continent people take their Lidl/Aldi carrier bags to other supermarkets but here in the UK many people take their M&S bags to Lidl/Aldi.

We tend to do our main shopping at Sainsbury's but get F&V delivered by Abel & Cole. If we're passing Lidl, we usually go in and stock up with stuff that's either cheaper or better there than elsewhere. We used to get their flyers through the door but now they've stopped. Just run out of their excellent mini-stollens. Mrs Nod always gets a couple of packs of their ripe and ready avocados and I'm rather partial to pistachio nuts and salted almonds when they have them in the big bags.
 
Use Aldi quite a lot and like the majority of their stuff. Not keen on the greengrocery section in our local store though, always seems lacklustre/drab, but it always looks ok in another store not too far away. Seems to run by a bunch of kids too, (maybe my age!) and hardly ever see staff on the floor and most of the time just two tills running, although they are fast.
Quite like the range of wines they do too.
 
I used to and will again, but while being car less I have to rely on online, that said most of my shopping was online even pre crash as I have a almost pathological hate of supermarkets and being in them ;)
 
MWHCVT said:
I used to and will again, but while being car less I have to rely on online, that said most of my shopping was online even pre crash as I have a almost pathological hate of supermarkets and being in them ;)
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I love supermarket shopping.....I think it may stem from my love of Cooking
 
archangel said:
I love supermarket shopping.....I think it may stem from my love of Cooking
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I don't particularly mind the shopping part of it, it's the people and their in ability to drive a trolly or their need to have in depth conversations in the middle of the shop....
 
The 'food snob' in me has yet to try. I shop sometimes at Tesco (convenient) but normally use the local farm shop for fruit & veg and Waitrose. The quality of meat, fish and veg cannot be beaten IMO (on the high st anyway). I have this perception that cheaper foods will have more chemicals/additives/non-natural stuff in. I always think of ice cream - Hagen Daz lists something like "Cream, Milk, Sugar, Egg, Vanilla" as their ingredients while Walls will have 4 times as many, most of which I can't spell!!

Waitrose do 3 fresh chickens for £10 - can it really be much cheaper in other places while maintaing the standards they have (would never, ever buy Tesco Value meat for example).
 
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cambsno said:
The 'food snob' in me has yet to try. I shop sometimes at Tesco (convenient) but normally use the local farm shop for fruit & veg and Waitrose. The quality of meat, fish and veg cannot be beaten IMO (on the high st anyway). I have this perception that cheaper foods will have more chemicals/additives/non-natural stuff in. I always think of ice cream - Hagen Daz lists something like "Cream, Milk, Sugar, Egg, Vanilla" as their ingredients while Walls will have 4 times as many, most of which I can't spell!!

Waitrose do 3 fresh chickens for £10 - can it really be much cheaper in other places while maintaing the standards they have (would never, ever buy Tesco Value meat for example).
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I use the local farm shop for meat and veg as it is quite reasonably priced....as for chickens I never buy the cheap stuff. my sister supplies a certain supermarket with them....total con....force fed and she gets pennies for the pleasure but without them her farm would need to be sold
 
Save a fortune at aldi. We have a sainsbury but it's not cheap only use it late on as convenient so don't mind paying a bit more
 
Another recent convert to Aldi here! Used to shop at the Morrisons which is practically next door to it, but am now making significant savings by going to Aldi. It did take me a while to get used to buying less familiar brands, to be honest, but their stuff is equally as good, if not better than the "big names". Examples would include hubby's favourite beer ... £2.09 in a Morrisons, £1.35 in Aldi; bread, milk and other basics noticeably cheaper; great fresh stuff, detergents etc much cheaper ..... Give it a go.

The other thing is that, as it's a smaller shop than my old supermarket, I spend less time in there and browse/impuLse buy a lot less, which is, I'm sure, also helping with the savings.
 
Aldi do the best sirloin and fillet steak I've ever eaten , it falls apart as you cut it's that tender

In the freezer there's a Belgian chocolate cheesecake under their extra special I think it is logo

If it was in M&S people would pay £5 for it and brag how superior M&S desserts were

Anybody who won't even try aldi is nuts in my opinion , £1.50 for a bottle of coke 39p in aldi and it tastes fine
 
wack61 said:
Aldi do the best sirloin and fillet steak I've ever eaten , it falls apart as you cut it's that tender

In the freezer there's a Belgian chocolate cheesecake under their extra special I think it is logo

If it was in M&S people would pay £5 for it and brag how superior M&S desserts were

Anybody who won't even try aldi is nuts in my opinion , £1.50 for a bottle of coke 39p in aldi and it tastes fine
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Damn now i'm going to be searching said cheesecake!... yummy!
 
I've been a confirmed Lidl/Aldi customer for years, Lidl veg is considerably cheaper than big supermarket stuff, it's not always as good looking but hey! Their prices have risen over the years and the gap isn't as wide as it was but they are both still good places to shop. Things you have to do, get used to the sometimes odd European product names, don't be afraid to try some of the weird stuff and take your own bags or as I do, a folding crate in the boot of the car. They both have a 'get em through the till as fast as possible' attitude so there's no space at the end of the conveyor to stack things while you take your time packing them, chuck everything in the trolley and either use the shelf by the window to sort it out or chuck it all into the car and worry about it at home.
 
We don't have an aldi just a lidl and it is good value just not the biggest of choice for a full weekly shop.
Some of the non food lines are really good too
 
I couldn't do my full shop in one as it's very limited on vegetarian alternatives. Get all the basics from there and won't go anywhere else for fruit and veg. It took me many years to go in one though.
 
cambsno said:
The 'food snob' in me has yet to try. I shop sometimes at Tesco (convenient) but normally use the local farm shop for fruit & veg and Waitrose. The quality of meat, fish and veg cannot be beaten IMO (on the high st anyway). I have this perception that cheaper foods will have more chemicals/additives/non-natural stuff in. I always think of ice cream - Hagen Daz lists something like "Cream, Milk, Sugar, Egg, Vanilla" as their ingredients while Walls will have 4 times as many, most of which I can't spell!!

Waitrose do 3 fresh chickens for £10 - can it really be much cheaper in other places while maintaing the standards they have (would never, ever buy Tesco Value meat for example).
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you call yourself a food snob yet you are buying Waitrose cheapest essential range, how do you think Waitrose can do 3 chickens for a tenner, you really think those chickens are better than any other cheap chicken..

unlike you I am not a food snob but I am quite fussy about the produce I buy and this is why I tend to shop at Waitrose/Sainsburys because I prefer their organic/free range selection(The Black Farmer organic chicken from Waitrose are superb), something that Aldi/Lidl, if they did offer a good organic/free range selection I would give it a try without a care for the logo stuck on the side of the building.
 
Not tried Aldi yet, but like Lidl. Good bargains on wine :beer:
 
Both Lidl & Aldi are great, I especially like 'the middle aisle' where the 'specials' are displayed. They have some very good time limited offers, usually themed, so say, kit/clothes for cyclists, then hikers/campers. They regularly have good offers on tools and the like. It's just that you've got to want what they've got, when they've got it !
They both have a web site where you can check the specials.

Although I'm slightly fixated by Tescos Scan & Shop technology at the moment - usually means you can complete a shop without speaking to anyone - heaven.

The Lidl/Aldi 'accelerated checkouts' can be a bit daunting at first, stuff seems to whistle through at a fantastic rate - as said earlier, pack your stuff by the window.
 
I now do 60% of my shop in Farm Foods

2x Hovis 800g loaves for £1.60
2x 4 pints of Milk for £1.60
12x Princess/John West Tuna £10 (Tescos = 3 for £4)
Admiral and Youngs fish pies 3 for £2

Loads of other big savings on fresh food, mince, veg, Bacon, Pizzas, fruit and when you get to the till you get another 10% off your bill if you use the money off vouchers, if you dont have the voucher then just ask for the deduction and they give it to you anyway
 
Gary Coyle said:
I now do 60% of my shop in Farm Foods

2x Hovis 800g loaves for £1.60
2x 4 pints of Milk for £1.60
12x Princess/John West Tuna £10 (Tescos = 3 for £4)
Admiral and Youngs fish pies 3 for £2

Loads of other big savings on fresh food, mince, veg, Bacon, Pizzas, fruit and when you get to the till you get another 10% off your bill if you use the money off vouchers, if you dont have the voucher then just ask for the deduction and they give it to you anyway
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Used to love farm foods when I was up In Derby. Sadly here my closest store is over 20 miles away.
 
wack61 said:
Anybody who won't even try aldi is nuts in my opinion , £1.50 for a bottle of coke 39p in aldi and it tastes fine
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Coke as in the brand, or just a cola?
 
fabs said:
Never heard of Farm Foods so looked them up. Turns out there's a store 6 miles from me.
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Get yourself over there and be amazed at some of the prices on branded foods as well as some lesser known brands, 3 x packs of Keebab meat for £5 = yummy

Flash spray with bleach, £2 in Tecsos, 3 for £2.50 in FF, yes thats 3 for £2.50
Colgate Toothpaste, £1.39 in Tescos, 49p in FF
Hartleys 175g fat free 10 cal Jelly pots, 60p each or 4 for £2 in Tescos, 4 for £1 in FF

The list is endless
 
As I have never been bothered what others think of me I have been using Aldi for most of my grocery shopping for 20 years.

People seem to have a funny idea about the company and don't know they one of the world's biggest grocery chains, running more than 9,800 stores worldwide, and are successful in the USA unlike Tesco.

It's just that recently the UK is changing from snobbery shopping to quality and value shopping, which is causing a problem for me, as in the past I could park right outside the door but now the car park is always full of newbie customers :)
 
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MWHCVT said:
I don't particularly mind the shopping part of it, it's the people and their in ability to drive a trolly or their need to have in depth conversations in the middle of the shop....
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I was going to say the exact thing when I saw your first post in this thread lol. Shopping trollies should be fitted with tazers and snow ploughs.
 
CaveDweller said:
I was going to say the exact thing when I saw your first post in this thread lol. Shopping trollies should be fitted with tazers and snow ploughs.
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Now that could get me back through the doors :P
 
SarahLee said:
Hmmmm . . . always worth a trip to Aldi just for the European chocolate bars.
A million times better than the UK rubbish!

Can't compete with Sainsbury's and local farm for veg though - nor with Morrisons / local farms for fish and meat.
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Agree on the euro chocolate! 30%+ cocoa solids compared to UK 20% vegelate served up by Cadburys Mars etc.

ALDI often do bread mixes which are cheap and very good quality for hand or machine making.

Been using Aldi for years and along with our local farm shop and 'proper' traditional butcher we have no need for the big supermarkets aparr from the odd bargain. ( £199 for a 40" LED Tv from Sainsburys for my garage/studio conversion "man cave"). Not the best or SMARR but great for the bottom of the garden).

I think the snobbery of some about Aldi/Lidl is misplaced. Quality is equal to the main stores.

Tgey can keep prices down by not overloading their stores with multi brands of the saame product and the fact is they are very big German brands. Even their dishwasher tablets IMO are better and much cheaper than the big brands.

Their continental cooked meat selection is brilliant - very tasty.

Steve
 
Interesting - while I love the 70% chocolate, for me you can't beat Cadbury for chocolate...

Whats the score on own brand stuff like washing up liquid. I am one for buying the brands - Fairy, Persil etc... whatever is on offer. This stems back to around 15 years ago buying some cheap washing up liquid and needing to use loads of it rather than the one squirt of fairy... yes, it was cheaper to buy but lasted a fraction of the time of fairy.
 
strumstrum said:
you call yourself a food snob yet you are buying Waitrose cheapest essential range, how do you think Waitrose can do 3 chickens for a tenner, you really think those chickens are better than any other cheap chicken..

unlike you I am not a food snob but I am quite fussy about the produce I buy and this is why I tend to shop at Waitrose/Sainsburys because I prefer their organic/free range selection(The Black Farmer organic chicken from Waitrose are superb), something that Aldi/Lidl, if they did offer a good organic/free range selection I would give it a try without a care for the logo stuck on the side of the building.
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Rightly or wrongly, I perceive Waitrose and M&S basic ranges to be different to that like Tesco value... maybe I am wrong?
 
I shop pretty much everywhere, but I have to agree that Aldi and Lidl win most of the time for both PRICE and QUALITY. For example Aldi's free range chicken are so far superior, their cheese and youghurt are very good indeed. The big 4 value range may come close in price but the quality clearly is far inferior. Tesco has a lot more on offer so it wins out when I am looking for something more special, but really otherwise it's becoming a one way game.

cambsno said:
Interesting - while I love the 70% chocolate, for me you can't beat Cadbury for chocolate...

Whats the score on own brand stuff like washing up liquid. I am one for buying the brands - Fairy, Persil etc... whatever is on offer. This stems back to around 15 years ago buying some cheap washing up liquid and needing to use loads of it rather than the one squirt of fairy... yes, it was cheaper to buy but lasted a fraction of the time of fairy.
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I tried to like cadbury stuff but I just can't stand it - it feels cheap and far too sweet for some reason.
 
daugirdas said:
I shop pretty much everywhere, but I have to agree that Aldi and Lidl win most of the time for both PRICE and QUALITY. For example Aldi's free range chicken are so far superior, their cheese and youghurt are very good indeed. The big 4 value range may come close in price but the quality clearly is far inferior. Tesco has a lot more on offer so it wins out when I am looking for something more special, but really otherwise it's becoming a one way game.



I tried to like cadbury stuff but I just can't stand it - it feels cheap and far too sweet for some reason.
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It the lack of cocoa, too much sugar, the lack of nuts in the Whole Nut, the increase pap sweeteners since Kraft took them over, so many reasons I just canmot stand the stuff.

Vomitous stuff....
 
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cambsno said:
Rightly or wrongly, I perceive Waitrose and M&S basic ranges to be different to that like Tesco value... maybe I am wrong?
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As far as I'm aware. "own" brands are made by the big boys for many supermarkets, but the recipes adjusted to suit the budget given ... therefore, I would expect a cheaper Tesco chocolate bar for example to have a lower percentage of the expensive/quality ingredients in them than say a Waitrose fancy chocolate bar. For ready meals, they might swap fresh garlic for garlic powder, or use cheaper cuts of beef (or horsemeat). I expect that this is also the case with Lidl/Aldi products, who package these products with names we've never heard of before to possibly mislead us. I'm probably completely wrong :whistle:
 
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