ALDI & LIDL Food and Drink Worth Trying?

[Toaster Pilot]

Can’t say I’ve ever bought/seen mouldy fruit and veg in supermarkets apart from in the reduced section but do find the shelf life of Aldi/Lidl absolutely woeful. Lets it down really because I would happily do a full shop in either but will only buy fruit/veg im going to use quickly

[Riley Blue]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

i agree you shouldnt have to check. My tesco is very bad for it mouldy fruit veg and well past it chicken and that was off the counter not packaged

You shouldn't have to check? We always check everything we buy, not just fruit and veg. and not just food. Surely that's the first rule of shopping, whatever it is that you're buying and from whatever source.

We have Aldi, Asda, Iceland, Lidl, Sainsburys and Tesco within a mile of us. The only one at which we've found mouldy food has been Sainsburys: bread, potatoes and a fruit (I forget which) and we also saw a leech on lettuce. Never had a problem with meat from any of them.

[andburg]

got in from doing the weekly shop last night and other half wanted a very quick tea.
I did a pack of the fridged chicken and bacon pasta, with half a jar of the stir through tomato and mascarpone and one of the fresh garlic pizza breads, only issue was i didn't let my pizza stone heat up fully so the base of the garlic bread was a little bit limp. Thown some fresh salad on the side and jobs a good un!

Back to proper cooking tonight

[MrJuice]

Disappointed by Lidl basil plant which was dead within 2 days. Waitrose basil plants last many weeks

Lidl raspberries mouldy after 5 days in the fridge. Unopened pack. Not impressed and probably enough to put me off going back for a while

[V8mate]

MrJuice said:

Lidl raspberries mouldy after 5 days in the fridge. Unopened pack. Not impressed and probably enough to put me off going back for a while

It was a pretty ugly nose anyway?

[Melman Giraffe]

MrJuice said:

Disappointed by Lidl basil plant which was dead within 2 days. Waitrose basil plants last many weeks

Lidl raspberries mouldy after 5 days in the fridge. Unopened pack. Not impressed and probably enough to put me off going back for a while

I do find that Aldi and Lidls fruit and Veg is generally at the end of their best, I would say they buy surplus the premium supermarkets don't buy off the suppliers

[V8mate]

Melman Giraffe said:

MrJuice said:

Disappointed by Lidl basil plant which was dead within 2 days. Waitrose basil plants last many weeks

Lidl raspberries mouldy after 5 days in the fridge. Unopened pack. Not impressed and probably enough to put me off going back for a while

I do find that Aldi and Lidls fruit and Veg is generally at the end of their best, I would say they buy surplus the premium supermarkets don't buy off the suppliers

And it's cheaper though, right?

I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's produce is at the end of its best. More often, they'll buy a lower grade, e.g. smaller blueberries than Waitrose, who only want 'plump' ones.

[Melman Giraffe]

V8mate said:

Melman Giraffe said:

MrJuice said:

Disappointed by Lidl basil plant which was dead within 2 days. Waitrose basil plants last many weeks

Lidl raspberries mouldy after 5 days in the fridge. Unopened pack. Not impressed and probably enough to put me off going back for a while

I do find that Aldi and Lidls fruit and Veg is generally at the end of their best, I would say they buy surplus the premium supermarkets don't buy off the suppliers

And it's cheaper though, right?

I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's produce is at the end of its best. More often, they'll buy a lower grade, e.g. smaller blueberries than Waitrose, who only want 'plump' ones.

Yes it is cheaper but it would be false economy buying all your fruit and veg for the week on Saturday and then composting it on Tuesda . I would only buy their fresh produce if i was using it within a day or so.

[MrJuice]

I've found Lidl fresh produce a little mixed.

Excellent items: premium blueberries (same price as Waitrose and probably taste better), carrots excellent value, mini cucumbers excellent at 99p and perfect for kiddie snacks, consistently good bananas, pok choi, chilli, amazing vine tomatoes at £1.92/kg....really fragrant and tasty....for comparison Waitrose run of the mill tomatoes are £2.02/kg, romano peppers. Strawberries at £1.19 for 400g was silly cheap but now £1.79 I think. Salad bags excellent.

Bad items: raspberries, basil plant

Hmmm. Putting it down on paper, I think I am being overly harsh. It is annoying, nonetheless, to have to feed my chickens with raspberries that I should be eating.

Lidl have a premium raspberry supplier who also supplies Costco. I didn't buy from Lidl but the strawberries from same supplier at Costco were distinctly average and not cheap.

[V8mate]

Melman Giraffe said:

V8mate said:

Melman Giraffe said:

MrJuice said:

Disappointed by Lidl basil plant which was dead within 2 days. Waitrose basil plants last many weeks

Lidl raspberries mouldy after 5 days in the fridge. Unopened pack. Not impressed and probably enough to put me off going back for a while

I do find that Aldi and Lidls fruit and Veg is generally at the end of their best, I would say they buy surplus the premium supermarkets don't buy off the suppliers

And it's cheaper though, right?

I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's produce is at the end of its best. More often, they'll buy a lower grade, e.g. smaller blueberries than Waitrose, who only want 'plump' ones.

Yes it is cheaper but it would be false economy buying all your fruit and veg for the week on Saturday and then composting it on Tuesda . I would only buy their fresh produce if i was using it within a day or so.

Do people still do weekly shops? Part of the reason Aldi and Lidl have been a success is the shift away from bulk shopping.

Typically I shop 2-3 times a week - bread alone requires more than a weekly shop.

[jas xjr]

V8mate said:

Do people still do weekly shops? Part of the reason Aldi and Lidl have been a success is the shift away from bulk shopping.

Typically I shop 2-3 times a week - bread alone requires more than a weekly shop.

We do a weekly shop simply because it is a chore.then when I get home it is a big pain to put everything away.
We top up in the week for bread and milk and those things we forgot on the big shop. We do however keep the cupboards well stocked with ingredients and we do bulk buy anything we use a lot of.

[Melman Giraffe]

jas xjr said:

V8mate said:

Do people still do weekly shops? Part of the reason Aldi and Lidl have been a success is the shift away from bulk shopping.

Typically I shop 2-3 times a week - bread alone requires more than a weekly shop.

We do a weekly shop simply because it is a chore.then when I get home it is a big pain to put everything away.
We top up in the week for bread and milk and those things we forgot on the big shop. We do however keep the cupboards well stocked with ingredients and we do bulk buy anything we use a lot of.

Yes this, both my wife and i work full time so weekly is the far easier option with a top up of bread and milk

[andburg]

weekly shop with a nip in on the way past for fresh veg/bread once a week.

[V8mate]

jas xjr said:

V8mate said:

Do people still do weekly shops? Part of the reason Aldi and Lidl have been a success is the shift away from bulk shopping.

Typically I shop 2-3 times a week - bread alone requires more than a weekly shop.

We do a weekly shop simply because it is a chore.then when I get home it is a big pain to put everything away.
We top up in the week for bread and milk and those things we forgot on the big shop. We do however keep the cupboards well stocked with ingredients and we do bulk buy anything we use a lot of.

So... you do a 'big shop' but it's a pain to put it all away? But then go back to a shop mid-week anyway?

How long does shopping take? I drive to Aldi, am in as it opens at 8 and home again by 08.35. Maybe you're just rubbish at shopping

[smack]

V8mate said:

Pro tip if you spot damaged/spoiled fruit in a supermarket: don't buy it.

But what if you don't like your OH/siblings/older relatives/house mates (delete as appropriate)?

[NoVetec]

It's all about smaller, frequent shops and rifling around a bit more with things like fruit & veg to pick up the best looking ones. Small effort more than offset by the savings.

Wish I could get there early morning regularly but my bodyclock/work patterns see me usually get there around midday. With my local store being next to an Iceland imagine what it's like on Universal Payday...

[jas xjr]

V8mate said:

So... you do a 'big shop' but it's a pain to put it all away? But then go back to a shop mid-week anyway?

How long does shopping take? I drive to Aldi, am in as it opens at 8 and home again by 08.35. Maybe you're just rubbish at shopping

Definitely rubbish at shopping as I am at most things if it were not for the tools etc ,I am not sure I would want to go there at all. I pretty much have no taste buds at all so even less incentive to shop.plus I am diabetic,which means there is a wide variety of foods I have to avoid.

[rdjohn]

Just grabbed a pack of Hot X buns and eaten one.

It’s with chocolate - how weird is that?

[V8mate]

rdjohn said:

Just grabbed a pack of Hot X buns and eaten one.

It’s with chocolate - how weird is that?

#BrokenBritain

[Nickbrapp]

V8mate said:

Do people still do weekly shops? Part of the reason Aldi and Lidl have been a success is the shift away from bulk shopping.

Typically I shop 2-3 times a week - bread alone requires more than a weekly shop.

Yes once a week in M&S, milk from the milkman twice a week, don’t tend to have bread in the week.

All the meat, fish and veg keeps all week.