After hearing people blabbering on about Aldi products being no different to major brands.Plus the fact that Aldi’s are popping up in just about every town,we thought we’d put it to the test.
What a load of tasteless crap, and thats only if you are alive to taste it after having all you basket slung at you faster than you can pack it.How are these shops surviving,where were people shopping before & more worryiing is what the hell have they been eating to be converted by Alidi.
They have a packing area for you to bag stuff up, you don’t pack at the checkout as its not efficient use of time.
Most of their own label stuff is really good value.
LIDL is decent too
Its true, Aldi can’t hold a candle to Fortnum and Mason.
Well if you want to pay over the odds for your groceries etc. that’s up to you. As well as groceries at half the cost, their gardening products and tools etc. are excellent quality at a fraction of the price you would pay at B&Q etc. People who shop at Aldi, like us, probably shopped at Tesco, Asda, M&S etc before Aldi and find Aldi just as good if not better for half the price. Shop where you like but don’t insult other people for their choices. Believe it or not people who shop at Aldi also have the class and wisdom to buy MX5’s.
Regarding the checkout operation, the idea is to put your checked out goods back into your trolley rather than in bags. You can put your items into bags at the “packing area” at your leisure or into bags in your car if you want to. This way you are not waiting for people to pack their bags before paying which increases checkout throughput and reduces queues. A good idea if you ask me
Does for me ???
It’s possible to save a lot of money at Aldi; we first shopped regularly with them almost forty years ago in Germany and we were very keen to use them in UK when they opened stores here in UK. These days we buy quite a lot of our “staple” foods at our local branch because they represent such good value (I was there today in fact) and we’ve also found that many of their toiletries and cleaning items are as good as other, if not better. We use other shops for some “luxury” things such fresh baked loaves. Bottled beers are especially good value…
I also agree about the tools sold by Aldi. I bought a MIG welder, a small generator, any number of spanner sets and other hand tools from there. The quality obviously isn’t as good as “Snap-On” but they have certainly proved to be at least as good as certain “Snap-Off” branded tools I’ve bought from well known chain store (no names mentioned but the “lifetime warranty” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be), but for the home mechanic they are more than adequate - a DIY mechanic can never have too many spanners, imho, and I work on five cars and two motorbikes here.
I agree that they do stock some “trashy” items I don’t give a second glance to, but so do most other shops.
Always found Lidl to be good never used Aldi though.
Andrew
Been shopping at Aldi for almost 2 years now, saving on average about £40 a week, or £2k a year if you prefer.
Agree the packing regime takes some getting used to, but manageable if you have your bags ready before the scanning starts and you have a helper with you. If I’m on my own, then I usually finish packing in the packing area as they intend.
No complaints about the quality of the products, and this seems to be recognised by the awards they keep winning.
Feel free to keep spending more of your hard earned elsewhere though
I really have to agree with ALL the replies so far, but when life kicks you in the teeth and you have to reign your spending in you can save at the very least a third on your weekly shop.
Agreed some of the tools are very good quality and i’ve been swinging Snap-on and MAC tools for over 40 years, in fact i must have over £10,000 worth, but i don’t replace them with Snap-on or MAC, Lidl or Aldi will do just as well.
As for the food you do need to pick and choose, but all in all it is decent stuff.
Where else can you buy a packet of boiled ham and a welder at the same time.
Long live both Aldi and Lidl.
I agree with the OP, tried them and just don’t get it. Morrisons or Tesco for us, I can usually sniff out a bargain and shy away from branded stuff and stick with own labels. I will however pop in for the odd bargain, never food related though.
I bought a PC from Aldi in 2008 and it’s still good enough to keep pace with everything I throw at it 10 years later which, for a retired techie, is probably more than most. Only thing I’ve changed is the hard drive to a bigger and quieter version.
As far a groceries are concerned, the fruit and veg seems to have better life in them than the stuff at the local Morrison’s.
My only complaint is that they are taking the mickey now with their lookalike packaging, although their version of fruit gums are rather good !
We’ve been using our local Aldi and Lidl stores for years now and are more than happy with what we purchase.
One of the staff in our local Aldi used to be a buyer for Waitrose and told us that many of the products Aldi sell come for the same producers that provide for Waitrose.
It’s snobbery in many cases with the mentality of if it’s cheaper it can’t be any good.
It’s worth going into Aldi for The Magical Middle Aisle of Sh*te alone
Oi, Davyo - NO!
Aldi here. (Tongue now removed from cheek…!)
Absolutely NO connection with the store (other than choice of nom de plume, which is a concatenation of my real names), but I have to say I agree with several posters above about the quality of their hand tools (Workzone brand)and hardware; frequently very good and half the price of Halfrauds etc. I’m a regular customer for their cooked meats, cheeses, beers, wines and other staples.
The only thing they lack is branded goods, and if you insist on your favourite brand of ,say, Worcestershie sauce, you need to finish your shopping elsewhere. But if you’ve saved at least 25% of your weekly bill, that’s no great hardship I think.
Cheers,
Aldi
Don’t like the place but bargains are to be found.
That though is misleading, especially for prepared foodstuffs. The same supplier, say meat pies, might supply several different brands, but the product will be very different, because they would be following a recipe, or specification, set by their client.
The lid is usually lifted when there is a recall by their supplier. For instance, a couple of months ago, Addo Food had to recall 59 different lines of meat pie bwcause wire had entered the process. The brands included their own (Walls), corner shop cack Nisa, Aldi, Tescos and Millers (an Ado brand). Pretty sure, as is the case, various Aldi and tesco branded pies would have been subject to a “taste challenge”, with judges sagely noting the differences, with some surprise conclusion that the cheap pie is the bet. Who knows, but it makes a good headline. Aldi have carefully crafted a story about how they offer cheaper prices because they source locally and with less variety. Not sure how local Maine Lobster or 4 year old dead Australian cooked lamb shanks are…
Of course not having many different lines does make them prone to supply shocks. Its amazing; Aldi spokesmen will happily provide a very precise number intimating a high percentage of their foodlines are UK sourced, but recently sent out notes to all their suppliers asking them to record the materials they use that are sourced from outside the UK. Would have thought they knew that already.
can’t see the connection between the mx5 forum and aldi.what the
Life The Univers and ALMOST ANYTHING might be a clue
You pay your money and you make your choice.
Enough said…