Tesco vs Lidl

LongLensPhotography

LongLensPhotography

Th..th..that's all folks!
Suspended / Banned
Messages
18,695
Name
LongLensPhotography
Edit My Images
No
There is a lot of talk about Tesco doing fairly badly recently. I used to shop there regularly but I find myself going to Lidl more and more. Tonight I said, that's it - Tesco is getting pointless. If I want to "throw money away" I could go to Waitrose and buy nicer stuff. As it stands I find a lot of great food in Lidl at 50-70% of Tesco price. Only a few selected "special offers" match or undercut the four-letter shops. That's a £100 / month saving or a decent lens a year.

Anyone else in the same boat or perhaps you see it differently?
 
Why is buying nicer stuff throwing money away? Sod the new lens, would rather have nice grub
Only supermarket here is Waitrose , shop there most days and it really isn't expensive compared to Tesco or Sainsburys
All the others are a car journey rather than a five minute walk so makes no sense shopping elsewhere.
Did go in a Lidl once, not a pleasant experience, stuff randomly placed, surly staff, lack of checkouts and the clientele were in the main grim
 
Last edited:
SWMBO used to be a dedicated Tesco shopper but one of my daughters took her to Aldi and she hasn' t looked back ... she's now a canny shopper using Tesco occasionally for things she likes and can't get elsewhere but mainly Aldi and occasionally Lidl. I never liked Tesco 'fresh' fruit & veg - too much poor quality product, I began to think our local was a dumping ground for old stuff!
 
I've read plenty of threads on here complaining about photographers "undercharging" for their work, and how it's pity that the price is the only thing customer considers. However when buying food, the one thing which will be the building blocks of our future bodies, it's throwing money away to spend! We may have our priorities a bit too photography focussed :LOL:
 
Our main shopping is Sainsbury's. Don't like the main Tesco due to staff surliness and generally chavier clientele but also because when they were building it they bulldozed a fair few protected trees then basically turned up to court and wrote a cheque - no apology. When we're passing Lidl, we always go in to pick up ant F&V we might need (most of that comes from Abel & Cole) since it's generally better quality (in terms of taste, which is FAR more important than looks) and significantly cheaper. I also get some of their toys from the baskets.

Speaking to Continental friends, while here in the UK people take their M&S bags to hide the fact that they shop at Lidl, over there they take their Lidl bags to the more expensive supermarkets.
 
Moadib said:
I've read plenty of threads on here complaining about photographers "undercharging" for their work, and how it's pity that the price is the only thing customer considers. However when buying food, the one thing which will be the building blocks of our future bodies, it's throwing money away to spend! We may have our priorities a bit too photography focussed :LOL:
Click to expand...

Not sure if I get your point correctly, but if I do, I struggle to see how the products my wife now buys from Aldi are in any way inferior to higher-priced Tesco products, indeed quite a number are considerably better products IMO ... and an apple is an apple, is an apple etc :)
 
That's my point - we see a loss of value in someone "undercharging" for photography, but "an apple is an apple is an apple". They look the same (just as the buyer thinks the photo looks the same), but something has changed to allow the lower price. The benign belief is that it's supermarket profit being squeezed, and that it will have no impact on quality or ultimately health. Looking around at the general health tends to suggest that's not the case.

Either approach is valid (tending to cost, or tending to quality), it just depends what someone believes. The quote attributed to Ruskin sums it up - "There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey". An apple which is intensively grown with pest1cides and artificial fertilisers and soil improvers is not the same as one naturally grown - but it will be cheaper. It depends whether we think that matters or not.
 
Last edited:
Oh no gramps, this isn't just an apple, this is a highly polished, perfectly round, red (or green), sweet juicy, promoted by an advertising agency apple...

I but meat from the local butcher (or three) and produce mostly from a local green grocer or seasonal from a local supplier. I use Asda for the 'box' products often buying in bulk when on special offers, storing them in the war chest (metal cabinet in the garage).
 
i'm with gramps ,aldi for general shopping as the foods the same or better and lots cheaper than the big 4 ,also keep a eye open for the re-appearance of netto as sainsburys have done a deal with them to come back to the u.k in the guise of sainsburys/netto express stores
 
Farmers market is good for veg, fruit and eggs, not worried about shape or a bit of mud. Lots of houses have produce outside on tables with honesty box, house five doors up has some lovely runners this week
 
We tried Lidl for a few weeks around by us - the fresh fruit and veg stuff wasn't any better quality than Tesco albeit slightly cheaper.

The meat was cheaper if going for unpopular cuts - chicken wings or thighs etc. - popular cuts like chicken breast or minced beef were the same price

Things like squash and drinks were the same price, as were jars of any sauces or condiments.

Not sure how people think that Aldi/Lidl are so much cheaper - the only way we can see it is if people switch from Tesco for branded items and then switch to unbranded in Lidl, something you could do anyway in Tesco?

I suppose we're quite lucky though that we have a reasonable amount of cupboard/storage space so we can stock up on items when on offer and then run the supplies down
 
Moadib said:
I've read plenty of threads on here complaining about photographers "undercharging" for their work, and how it's pity that the price is the only thing customer considers. However when buying food, the one thing which will be the building blocks of our future bodies, it's throwing money away to spend! We may have our priorities a bit too photography focussed :LOL:
Click to expand...

I see the big 4 as Getty of the food world - destroying the suppliers and ripping off the customers. That is hardly good, is it? I boycott Getty by the way.

Uneducated_Rick said:
We tried Lidl for a few weeks around by us - the fresh fruit and veg stuff wasn't any better quality than Tesco albeit slightly cheaper.
Click to expand...

A few selected examples:

Nectarines - Lidl had them really cheap so far and far better than the rock hard off-picks anywhere else
Greek yoghurt - slightly cheaper but far better than Tesco
Mozarella - equivalent to the most expensive one at Tesco
Salad - half price or less. 1.50 for a few (literally) leaves is a bit steep now, isn't it?
Smoked salmon - good and less than half price of the cheapest tesco pack, full of tiny scrap pieces.

I could go on for a while :) I hope someone from Tesco is reading this
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
We tried Lidl for a few weeks around by us - the fresh fruit and veg stuff wasn't any better quality than Tesco albeit slightly cheaper.

The meat was cheaper if going for unpopular cuts - chicken wings or thighs etc. - popular cuts like chicken breast or minced beef were the same price

Things like squash and drinks were the same price, as were jars of any sauces or condiments.

Not sure how people think that Aldi/Lidl are so much cheaper - the only way we can see it is if people switch from Tesco for branded items and then switch to unbranded in Lidl, something you could do anyway in Tesco?

I suppose we're quite lucky though that we have a reasonable amount of cupboard/storage space so we can stock up on items when on offer and then run the supplies down
Click to expand...
The thing is, the unbranded items in Aldi are usually as good as, if not better than the branded in Tesco, and less expensive.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
The thing is, the unbranded items in Aldi are usually as good as, if not better than the branded in Tesco, and less expensive.
Click to expand...

probably made by the same supplier and wrapped in a different pack
 
I am starting to think our Aldi must be different to everyone elses. It has an isle of of Bread, crisps and biscuits, an isle or random frozen meat and ready meals, an isle of VERY random s*** you never want all just dumped into big baskets, and then an isle of half booze, half random groceries that never seem to be the same from one visit to another. Really have no idea how you would do a full shop in there!
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
I am starting to think our Aldi must be different to everyone elses. It has an isle of of Bread, crisps and biscuits, an isle or random frozen meat and ready meals, an isle of VERY random s*** you never want all just dumped into big baskets, and then an isle of half booze, half random groceries that never seem to be the same from one visit to another. Really have no idea how you would do a full shop in there!
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that local manager has a fair bit of power to do what they want. One I used to use in Bristol was good for 80% my needs; now the one in Glasgow Govan looks like they decided to do away with all vegetables and stock up some rubber boots instead :cuckoo: Then tried another and it is again different (in between?)
 
Hmm. Islands of groceries? :)
 
Tesco source a lot of their packaged food from the same East European companies as Lidl and Aldi, the only difference is the name and the price. Veg in Tesco looks good tastes poor, I find the opposite in L/A it doesn't always look perfect but it tasts fine. I'm in and out of Tescos all the time with my work so tend to buy odds and sods when there, in my own time I'll go out of my way to avoid Tesco, preferring Asda and Lidl/Aldi, Also Morrisons but the local is a pita to get to.
 
We use Lidl and Aldi for a few things - cleaning materials, olive oil, jars of pickles (also olives and antipasti), packet hams, minced beef, bottled water, fruit juice, some wine - but find their fruit and veg is getting a bit suspect on quality.
We also use a local farm shop for fruit, veg, cheese, eggs, milk because their quality is superb, and they are cheaper than supermarkets. Local butchers for most meat products - cheaper and far better quality than any of the supermarkets.
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
Really have no idea how you would do a full shop in there!
Click to expand...

We don't, though we possibly could ... through the week in order of amounts it would be Aldi > local shops > Tesco.
 
We shop in Aldi mainly, then pop next door to sainsburys for the things we can't get in Aldi.
 
my local lidl is really nice, and there fresh fruit and veg is just excellent and there in house bakery is amazing.

we have found tesco's getting dearer, but you cant get everything you want in lidl and the same goes with aldi. (my nearest aldi is awful only went there once and it put me off aldi forever, full of pikeys, looked a right mess, and had a very small selection of choice, and there fruit and veg was rubbish, also didnt fint it that cheap)

sainsbury's is stupid money, i dont have a waitrose, our nearest asda is quite good, but again the fresh food suffers,

our local morrisons however, since they have introduced new low prices, is brilliant and has become our number one.
 
Jimmy_Lemon said:
I am starting to think our Aldi must be different to everyone elses. It has an isle of of Bread, crisps and biscuits, an isle or random frozen meat and ready meals, an isle of VERY random s*** you never want all just dumped into big baskets, and then an isle of half booze, half random groceries that never seem to be the same from one visit to another. Really have no idea how you would do a full shop in there!
Click to expand...
Ours is exactly the same. My weekly shop would certainly be cheaper, probably because 70% of it isn't on sale at our local Aldi.
 
Wherever we shop, we keep our eyes open for special offers like bogofs and stock up on less perishables that we usually use anyway. Just need a bigger house to store all the bulk buys we've made!
 
I tend to favour whatever is in easy walking distance so m&s is easiest in this respect, pretty much "next door". Tried tesco but it's quite a long walk as are most of the other supermarkets. Usually get things like beer from Sainsburys - take the Brompton Bike and load it up. I hate having to take the car to go shopping!
 
Don't really have this sort of choice where my wife lives, which is where I am at the moment. Nearest town has a small Tesco and Co-op. Larger Tesco, Morrisons, M & S, Aldi and Lidl are about 20 odd miles away. Anything else is + 50 miles, and Waitrose is around 90 miles.

20 miles isn't far, but it feels a lot further when you're stuck behind a tractor or a slow moving van. I absolutely hate rural areas!
 
daugirdas said:
There is a lot of talk about Tesco doing fairly badly recently.
Click to expand...

You think Tesco is doing badly? I'm not convinced. I'll tell ya what though, there's definitely no shortly of people who want to constantly go on about how they now shop at Lidl and Aldi instead of whatever supermarket. It's clearly as satisfying as going to the gym!
 
connersz said:
It's clearly as satisfying as going to the gym!
Click to expand...

I've never heard about that one. Strangely I don't see there any appeal, while Lidl is really tempting - can't wait for their doors to open in the morning!
 
I think you will find that the quality of various supermarkets is purely down to how they are managed.We have a Tesco near us,brilliant when it first opened but has gone down hill over the last couple of years. You go there on a Saturday morning and shelves seem to be half empty and there presentation of stuff is a joke. We have a local Lidle,crap when it first opened but has got better over the last couple of years.We have a fairly big Aldi a short drive away,has been good since day one and seems to get better all the time. We usualy shop at Aldi all the time now,the quality of their meat is consistant and we have never had cause to complain about anything.I pick up and deliver fruit and veg everyday from Bristol market so with regards to their fruit and veg it`s class "A" stuff. Lastly we have a fairly large Radco just down the road used to be the CoOp,it was part of of our mining town years ago.What they do is promote all this fair trade sheeite,all well and good but their prices are bordering on rediculous and imo prey on all the old people who cannot get out far to do their shopping.
 
ST4 said:
Didn't tesco make over a billion pounds in profit last year - IMHO not a company that's doing badly
Click to expand...

I think it's quite fashionable at the moment to go to Lidl/Aldi instead of the big supermarkets but it's not very often you come across one with 3,000sq/m of floor space, photo lab, pharmacy, optician, deli, clothes section, electrical section, dvds & games, currency, a bank, a version of Argos, home delivery, broadband, phone, mobiles, Giraffe restaurant, fuel pumps and just about whatever else you can find in Tesco these day's.

I would say that Tesco has a tiny bit of edge on the Germans if you ask me so I doubt they are shaking in their boots just yet.
 
connersz said:
I think it's quite fashionable at the moment to go to Lidl/Aldi instead of the big supermarkets but it's not very often you come across one with 3,000sq/m of floor space, photo lab, pharmacy, optician, deli, clothes section, electrical section, dvds & games, currency, a bank, a version of Argos, home delivery, broadband, phone, mobiles, Giraffe restaurant, fuel pumps and just about whatever else you can find in Tesco these day's.

I would say that Tesco has a tiny bit of edge on the Germans if you ask me so I doubt they are shaking in their boots just yet.
Click to expand...

They do have all this stuff but most people including myself don't need it. Their electricals are priced not very competitively and their diesel is clearly inferior to any branded station (so bad that I had to use Forte after one fill up). The photo lab is best avoided, etc, etc and restaurant is not what I would consider best food in town at that price range. They want to control everything but sadly they excel at nothing.
 
connersz said:
it's not very often you come across one with 3,000sq/m of floor space, photo lab, pharmacy, optician, deli, clothes section, electrical section, dvds & games, currency, a bank, a version of Argos, home delivery, broadband, phone, mobiles, Giraffe restaurant, fuel pumps and just about whatever else you can find in Tesco these day's.
Click to expand...

All the more reason to ensure that there are a suitable number of competitors if you ask me :)
 
daugirdas said:
They do have all this stuff but most people including myself don't need it. Their electricals are priced not very competitively and their diesel is clearly inferior to any branded station (so bad that I had to use Forte after one fill up). The photo lab is best avoided, etc, etc and restaurant is not what I would consider best food in town at that price range. They want to control everything but sadly they excel at nothing.
Click to expand...
If you think the fuel delivered to one supermarket is any different to the fuel delivered to onother one then youre clearly mad, all the fuel in a particular region comes from the exact same refinery, the big fuel competitors have an agreement in place to save on transport costs whih allows Shell to pick up fuel from an Esso refinery and BP to do the exact same then in a different region BP will repay the favour etc, etc, ask me how i know, well my neighbour spends 6 days a week on the road delivering fuel for a living, one week he will sub for BP, the next Esso and so on, he is actually employed by Total who sub him out to other companies including the supermarket fuel carriers.

On a typical day he can be driving an Esso branded tanker calling at a Shell depot, he will then deliver to a Tesco store, then onto a Morrisons, then he will cross the road in his Esso tanker filled with Shell fuel and top up a BP petrol Station.
 
Last edited:
Gary Coyle said:
If you think the fuel delivered to one supermarket is any different to the fuel delivered to onother one then youre clearly mad, all the fuel in a particular region comes from the exact same refinery, the big fuel competitors have an agreement in place to save on transport costs whih allows Shell to pick up fuel from an Esso refinery and BP to do the exact same then in a different region BP will repay the favour etc, etc, ask me how i know, well my neighbour spends 6 days a week on the road delivering fuel for a living, one week he will sub for BP, the next Esso and so on, he is actually employed by Total who sub him out to other companies including the supermarket fuel carriers.

On a typical day he can be driving an Esso branded tanker calling at a Shell depot, he will then deliver to a Tesco store, then onto a Morrisons, then he will cross the road in his Esso tanker filled with Shell fuel and top up a BP petrol Station.
Click to expand...

You will find that additives in fuel can make a lot of difference. As it stands supermarkets add none while Esso, BP, etc do. There are also different purity grades (usually denoted by cetane number) and just like fruits tesco will order a cheaper and iferior batch. It is a bit funny that most self-respecting garages told me to avoid supermarket diesel and so far I believe them. The only way to make tesco diesel work is to fill up some of BP ultimate straight on top negating any price advantage. I doubt you'll notice much of a difference in renaul scenic nor pensioner driven coffin, but there is a big difference with TDI engines at least.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top