Lidl - just managed to use them for a full shop
Discussion
LordGrover said:
Maybe the Portuguese shops offer a different range to that we enjoy in the UK.
Very little poor quality in my experience and plenty of reasonable quality fresh fruit and veg.
I've been told all the packeted things are the same, but I've not been in a UK supermarket in years so I've no idea. Very little poor quality in my experience and plenty of reasonable quality fresh fruit and veg.
KFC said:
Being a snob has nothing to do with it. I don't think you can get a full weeks food out of there. Sure you might be able to pick up the occasional nice thing... but they don't seem to have any variety. A lot of the food they sell is absolute crap quality.
I'm just really struggling to see why anyone would genuinely choose to shop there, unless finances forced it?
Can you give any examples of what is there that is crap quality?I'm just really struggling to see why anyone would genuinely choose to shop there, unless finances forced it?
They might have very little choice but that is their business model, find the best quality, at a price, and sell that.
I have been shopping in LIDL for over 20 years (I started using them when I lived in Spain) and I have have never found anything to be poor quality
KFC said:
The quality on a lot of the things they sell is poor. The selection of things they sell is bad (one type of naan bread etc). A lot of things you can get in other supermarkets are simply non existent. No proper steaks, no nice deli counter, no sushi, no proper choice of fresh fruit etc etc
I can honestly say I haven't found that to be the case so far.The lack of choice, yes I agree in so much that there isn't anything like as much choice, with that but I guess lower prices are a trade off of not needing shelf space for 12 brands of English Mustard etc.
Steaks, haven't looked yet but they seemed to have a ton of meat at a glance?
Deli counter, and sushi fair point if that's your thing, but that comes down to expectations and I didn't go in there expecting a Deli counter or sushi so I'm not going to hold it against them that they don't have one.
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to claim I never need shop anywhere else, simply that so far I've been very surprised at the quality and the cost of what I have had from there.
b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: I can honestly say I haven't found that to be the case so far.
The lack of choice, yes I agree in so much that there isn't anything like as much choice, with that but I guess lower prices are a trade off of not needing shelf space for 12 brands of English Mustard etc.
Steaks, haven't looked yet but they seemed to have a ton of meat at a glance?
Deli counter, and sushi fair point if that's your thing, but that comes down to expectations and I didn't go in there expecting a Deli counter or sushi so I'm not going to hold it against them that they don't have one.
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to claim I never need shop anywhere else, simply that so far I've been very surprised at the quality and the cost of what I have had from there.
I don't think it needs a deli, it has a mass of hams and meats and cheeses of that are pre packed but still only the rice one might pay at the deli counter, and you don't have to eat it within three days.The lack of choice, yes I agree in so much that there isn't anything like as much choice, with that but I guess lower prices are a trade off of not needing shelf space for 12 brands of English Mustard etc.
Steaks, haven't looked yet but they seemed to have a ton of meat at a glance?
Deli counter, and sushi fair point if that's your thing, but that comes down to expectations and I didn't go in there expecting a Deli counter or sushi so I'm not going to hold it against them that they don't have one.
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to claim I never need shop anywhere else, simply that so far I've been very surprised at the quality and the cost of what I have had from there.
dazco said:
I don't think it needs a deli, it has a mass of hams and meats and cheeses of that are pre packed but still only the rice one might pay at the deli counter, and you don't have to eat it within three days.
Maybe I misunderstand how deli's work but I always assumed the stuff you buy there might be less "fresh" than the stuff you get in a packet tbh - as much as I love stuff like game pie I can't imagine Waitrose chuck 7/8ths of one so depending when you buy it might have been sat about for a while?dazco said:
Can you give any examples of what is there that is crap quality?
Packets of ham, packets of cheese, croissants, fresh pork chops and fresh chicken breasts all seemed notably worse than my usual supermarket. dazco said:
They might have very little choice but that is their business model, find the best quality, at a price, and sell that.
Thats fair enough... one of everything and if you don't like it don't buy it. I just don't like the business model as its impossible for them to match up the 'one' with what I might want that day. From the usual place I can have high quality steaks for 50 euros a kilo as I think there is a noticeable difference and they're worth the money. Then I can have cheap cans of beans because I can't taste the difference between them and the expensive ones. Then I can have the 'expensive' black bread rolls as I'm making sandwiches for a picnic. Or I can have the horrible cheap white square bread because it fits in my toaster better. Sometimes I want to pay for quality... sometimes not. Lidl/Aldi removes that choice far too often imo.KFC said:
Thats fair enough... one of everything and if you don't like it don't buy it. I just don't like the business model as its impossible for them to match up the 'one' with what I might want that day. From the usual place I can have high quality steaks for 50 euros a kilo as I think there is a noticeable difference and they're worth the money. Then I can have cheap cans of beans because I can't taste the difference between them and the expensive ones. Then I can have the 'expensive' black bread rolls as I'm making sandwiches for a picnic. Or I can have the horrible cheap white square bread because it fits in my toaster better. Sometimes I want to pay for quality... sometimes not. Lidl/Aldi removes that choice far too often imo.
You are on the wind up. 
Nearly got me
I happened to stop at M&S on the way home tonight to get some bits.
Absolute fking chaos and reminded me how much I do hate busy supermarkets.
The food is very nice, but even after a week it did highlight something which was simply the sheer amount of choice - and I'm not so sure I mean that in a good way in so much as I found myself simply "roaming" the isles totally unable to make a fking decision on what to buy because there is so much of everything 
I shudder to think how much they must throw away.
Absolute f
king chaos and reminded me how much I do hate busy supermarkets.The food is very nice, but even after a week it did highlight something which was simply the sheer amount of choice - and I'm not so sure I mean that in a good way in so much as I found myself simply "roaming" the isles totally unable to make a f
king decision on what to buy because there is so much of everything I shudder to think how much they must throw away.
KFC said:
Packets of ham, packets of cheese, croissants, fresh pork chops and fresh chicken breasts all seemed notably worse than my usual supermarket.
We find the ham, cheese and chicken breasts equal to what we find in other supermarkets (and less expensive) and prefer Lidl croissants to any other - they're cheaper too.HotJambalaya said:
Is there any particular difference between aldi and lidl?
Aldi uses more own label products, Lidl tends to use private label from very small manufacturers.With reference to the comment about packeted stuff being the same, this is true in many cases, and a little knowledge is very handy. For instance, if a product looks similar to Weetabix and is the same shape, then it is made by Weetabix and will be exactly the same product (the manufacturing is such that canging recipe is simply not cost effective, so much so that they made new production lines for the recent flavour differences) Always check out the ingredient declaration panel and educate yourself on different names for the same ingredient. The only real difference is normally the pack size. If youcan handle the queues, it is worth popping in and saving a few quid. One thing to be aware of is the durability dates. If something has a sell by date (or use by) which exceeds what you would normally expect, then the chances are it has a stronger preservative in it. There are rare cases of allergies being triggered by these, they are rare though.
Used to work for a firm supplying fresh produce to most of the supermarkets.
Oddly, the required specs against each product were strictest at the cheapest stores - Lidl/Asda, then Tesco/Sainsburys, finally Waitrose/Ocado.
Although with Waitrose/Ocado, they were very strict on quality, but much less fussed by size/shape, the others want absolutely identical stuff in every bag or tray.
They often used to run raw material through three times - once for Lidl/Asda, then again for Tesco/Sainsburys, finally all the odd shapes/sizes but in great condition got wrapped in Waitrose packaging...
Oddly, the required specs against each product were strictest at the cheapest stores - Lidl/Asda, then Tesco/Sainsburys, finally Waitrose/Ocado.
Although with Waitrose/Ocado, they were very strict on quality, but much less fussed by size/shape, the others want absolutely identical stuff in every bag or tray.
They often used to run raw material through three times - once for Lidl/Asda, then again for Tesco/Sainsburys, finally all the odd shapes/sizes but in great condition got wrapped in Waitrose packaging...
uk_vette said:
The Aldi weetabix are better tasteing than the original product.
Also you should try the Aldi Readybrek (sp) very good,
and have bought them particular products for years.
vette
That's pretty good to know. I can let the appropriate people know. But trust me, both are exactly the same.Also you should try the Aldi Readybrek (sp) very good,
and have bought them particular products for years.
vette
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