6 replies to this topic

[Simon]

This weekend we ventured to Aldi to do the weekly grocery shop; we normally use Asda or Tesco as they both have large supermarkets close by and we can get everything in one hit. Our usual weekly bill is around the £100 mark, its never much less but can be a good deal more.

Walking round the spacious, trolley free aisles I was amazed at the low, low prices - it almost felt like stealing. I bought a box of ‘Morn Flakes' and a box of ‘Wheat Bisks' (I kid you not) and by the time I got to the till I had a trolley full of spuriously named products and some high quality grub. Although the checkout procedure was slightly different than I'm used to (no offer to help with your packing here mate) it went smoothly and the best bit was the price -£49.98. I managed to get everything apart from some branded shampoo and conditioner and a newspaper - I picked these up later.

So how do Aldi do it? It's obvious they have low operating costs, there were only three staff in store, and they don't have a customer services counter and other fluff like that. Sure cheap doesn't matter if the foods not edible but again we've found in many cases the Aldi products are of much better quality and taste (especially the fruit and vegetables - or does it just seem that way?).

Naturally I'm delighted to have halved my weekly shopping bill and I can't wait for next weekend.

Regards,
Simon

[SAM]

I have a Polish friend whose Mother does all of her shopping at Aldi and Lidl as she recognises most of the brands, apparently some of them are the equivalent to our big brands, its just supermarket snobbery that prevents people from trying out this type of shop!!

I saw an advert for cashier jobs in the paper, and they get paid twice as much as our production staff, to the point where I considered applying, then realised that I would have to deal with people all day, every day so I changed my mind!!

Nadine.x

[Simon]

I saw an advert for cashier jobs in the paper, and they get paid twice as much as our production staff, to the point where I considered applying, then realised that I would have to deal with people all day, every day so I changed my mind!!

They do get paid really well. I'd consider packing all this in if they give a good staff discount on ‘Morn Flakes'. Oh I just remembered they have coin trolley's - doh!

I have a Polish friend whose Mother does all of her shopping at Aldi and Lidl as she recognises most of the brands, apparently some of them are the equivalent to our big brands, its just supermarket snobbery that prevents people from trying out this type of shop!!

Hey if it saves me £50 a week I'm prepared to rough it a little. To be honest everything we have eaten so far has been exceptional and it's nice to have a change from the usual stuff we buy. It's not too embarrassing as long as I keep my hoodie up.

See you soon Nadine,
Simon

[GMO]

Are you still going for it Simon? I can say I'm a recent Aldi convert, their cured meats, bread and yoghurt are all better than some big brands.

[Simon]

Hi GMO, Wow this thread harks back to 2005. Well yes I still go, but not every week because I've discovered Home Bargains. Been there today for 1/2 the shop and the other half at Asda. Here are a few examples from Home Bargains.

2 litres 7 Up 79p
Fillipo Bertolli Premium Olive oil £1.99 (£4.99 Tesco)
Stavely 6 eggs 79p (£1.99 Tesco)
Cereal Bars 69p (£1.49) Tesco

Basically loads of stuff at 1/2 price or less than the big stores, but no fresh foods. I spend around £40 a week, which would easily be £60 - £70 in Tesco. Like I said the last few weeks I've also been going to Asda for all the other stuff and have even been buying some of their extra special range like olives etc. with the savings. Anyone who shops at Tesco / Sainsbury's must be mad or loaded.

Regards,
Simon

[denist]

Hi
Prices in those supermarket a really interesting and IMO taste... is really variable from product to product .

Not to do a bad advert but this post remind me a problem that happened a couple of weeks.
So 2 weeks ago in France several children have been really sick by eating frozen meat coming from hard discount supermarket.
As always (in France) following such a problem, tv programs show ''old'' documentaries concerning poor hygiene in those kind of shop.
I'm not saying it is always the case in hard discount supermarket (even in the same brand) but do you thing that the aim of really low price products can compromise product safety?

If such a thing happen in your country would you stop buying in Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains... ?

[Simon]

Hi
Prices in those supermarket a really interesting and IMO taste... is really variable from product to product .

Not to do a bad advert but this post remind me a problem that happened a couple of weeks.
So 2 weeks ago in France several children have been really sick by eating frozen meat coming from hard discount supermarket.
As always (in France) following such a problem, tv programs show ''old'' documentaries concerning poor hygiene in those kind of shop.
I'm not saying it is always the case in hard discount supermarket (even in the same brand) but do you thing that the aim of really low price products can compromise product safety?

If such a thing happen in your country would you stop buying in Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains... ?

Hi Denist, I just stumbled across your post, so sorry for the late reply. The discount shops are still very large retailers with no difference in hygiene standards to the expensive ones like Tesco, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer etc. If a supermarket had a problem with an individual product it wouldn’t stop me from shopping there I would be more concerned with systematic failures. By the way I was in France for my holiday and I shopped at Hyper U…very expensive compared to even the higher end UK supermarkets. I did also see a new Lidl store nearby. In my opinion these stores have a good opportunity in the market to attack the greedy supermarkets and provide consumers with good value and still make a decent profit.