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Aldi have arrived in my town

(50 Posts)
TerriBull Fri 15-Nov-24 16:25:42

Yay! my town has a brand new Aldi, strategically sandwiched between Sainsbury's and Waitrose where I reckon my weekly grocery shop is split between those two on a 70/30 basis respectively. I've never lived near an Aldi before, so it's an all new experience for me. I wandered in there today, it's a lovely store all brand spanking new. I bought a few items, some strong cheddar, Double Gloucester, a wholemeal seeded loaf, Greek yogurt, baby tomatoes, all somewhat cheaper than Sainsbury's. The car park isn't that big, so I parked over the road in Sainsbury's and enquired of a manager what they intend to charge for parking, free for 90 mins! At both Waitrose and Sainsbury first half hour free, not always long enough, and then free for 2 hours after if you spend £10.

May I ask Aldi devotees, what products of theirs would you recommend and what wouldn't you buy?, I've read criticisms that their fruit. salad stuff doesn't keep particularly well.

Greyduster Fri 15-Nov-24 16:29:26

At this tine of year, they sell a particularly nice salmon, prawn and white wine wellington. We’ve had several and they are delicious. Don’t tell everybody though😁!

Kate1949 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:35:16

SO many. I don't think it's true about the fruit and veg. We buy it from there regularly. We buy their:

Torchon ham
Baked beans (nicer than Heinz) in our opinion.
Red label tea bags
Large bags of sea salted crinkle crisps
Skin on frozen chips
Fish fingers
Cakes, bread, rolls, crumpets
Wine and gin
Frozen desserts

Much more - most things really. I love Aldi.

silverlining48 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:35:57

Oh, I like Aldi. I can’t criticise anything really. They do a nice sourdough loaf, keffir yoghurt, (v. Healthy) meat is good as is wine and beer. Havnt had problems with fruit or salad.

Another reason I like Aldi is they take care of their staff. The pay is higher than most and they close on Boxing Day and new years day so the staff can be at home like the rest of us, unlike Sainsbury. As do Lidl I think, possibly because their shops in Germany aren’t open on bank holidays. Sundays too I think.

silverlining48 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:38:36

Havnt mentioned the middle aisle, it’s a cornucopia of things you never knew you needed.

NotAGran55 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:41:46

Their dishwasher capsules and washing powder/capsules are Which? Best Buys that I use.
The Specially Selected all butter mince pies 🥧 are second this year, just behind the Waitrose ones. I can’t vouch personally for any of them as I don’t like them.

silverlining48 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:43:52

As are the sun creams (have been top on Which).

Primrose53 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:45:08

It was in the news yesterday that Aldi is top of the list of all supermarkets for their Christmas range of food and drinks. Beat M and S again, Waitrose, Sainsbury, Tesco etc.

We love their 0% fat authentic greek yogurt.
torchon ham
Toffee apples
country cream drink (like Baileys)
Luxury chocolate cookies
pink lady apples
ham and Pineapple Pizza
prawn Wellington
5% fat steak mince

TerriBull Fri 15-Nov-24 16:46:25

Thank you all for your recommendations, I think I'm going to love Aldi too, I fear Sainsbury's will be down on their footfall, possibly Waitrose too, I wouldn't want to lose either but competition is good, Aldi are certainly competitively priced from what I could see, some of their Christmas bits and pieces looked nice. Oh yes I forgot to mention I also bought some sliced Salami, not for me, my family are coming this weekend and my granddaughter likes it in a sandwich, much cheaper than Sainos.

Good to know they take care of their staff.

MissInterpreted Fri 15-Nov-24 16:47:04

I'm another Aldi fan. I find most of their own products absolutely fine - and in many cases, better than the well-known brands. I also like that they support Scottish producers - their shortbread is especially good. My husband is a big fan of their wine - they do a 'dupe' of the Barefoot wines which he says are just as good, but much cheaper.

Tusue Fri 15-Nov-24 16:48:12

I love shopping in our local Aldi, I’ve never had a problem with their fresh produce and their own brand cosmetics are fab, I recently bought 3 bunches of Alstomerias and they flopped after 4 days, I took them back and was given a full refund as I happened to have my receipt.
Staff are great, seasonal foods and homeware excellent,I’d be lost without this store.
Today they had an offer on for 4 fresh salmon steaks at £5.99 which I thought was a good price.

pascal30 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:48:25

I especially like their frozen lamb shanks in red wine sauce.. they last me for 4 meals..

1summer Fri 15-Nov-24 16:48:40

I buy
Greek Yogurt
Olive oil
Houmous
Cooked Meats
Cheeses (especially at Christmas)
Nordpak butter as good as Lurpak
Lacura toiletries
I buy lots of packets of seeds and nuts.
Sourdough bread
Wines regularly recommended by experts

Lots of things

welbeck Fri 15-Nov-24 16:56:02

I buy much of my clothing there.
Good quality and keen prices.

NotSpaghetti Fri 15-Nov-24 16:56:05

silverlining48

Havnt mentioned the middle aisle, it’s a cornucopia of things you never knew you needed.

And almost certainly don't!
grin

silverlining48 Fri 15-Nov-24 16:59:40

At the end of the Covid lockdown I wrote to the boss of Sainsbury suggesting they close on the coming Boxing Day as a thankyou to his staff, allowing them all two days at home fir Christmas after working throughout the pandemic.
I got no response at all. No doubt he was at home with his family while his staff manned the shops on Boxing Day.
No one needs to go shopping on Boxing Day.
I was disappointed but not surprised.

Grannynannywanny Fri 15-Nov-24 17:02:34

I do most of my shopping at Aldi. Their own brands are very good and competitively priced. Baked beans, ketchup, biscuits etc. Fruit and veg is lovely and I’ve never had a problem with it. Your biggest problem will be sticking to your shopping list and avoiding the middle aisle. You’ll be tempted to buy things you didn’t know you needed 😆

You may have previously heard the Ballad of Lidl and Aldi but it still makes me laugh.

youtu.be/cL7jyXCQ2Zc?si=wL7D6hjCAJAX_KtB

Grannynannywanny Fri 15-Nov-24 17:09:13

PS I find their dishwasher tablets as good as the top brands at less than half the price

Gin Fri 15-Nov-24 17:09:49

We always stock up on unpitted black olives, they are good. Their nuts, the unsalted ones, are cheaper than anywhere. The one problem I have is that things do not always remain on sale. Some foods are just occasionally available like venison steaks or duck legs. There are few branded goods but usually an equally good alternative own brand

Abitbarmy Fri 15-Nov-24 17:20:05

Thank you so much Grannynannywanny for that link it give me such a laugh when I really needed one. I love Aldi too though I still shop elsewhere for certain things. Their wine is especially good value!

Kate1949 Fri 15-Nov-24 17:23:48

Aldi Specially Selected lemon curd iced buns are heavenly.

denbylover Fri 15-Nov-24 17:28:21

I wish Aldi or ‘anyone’ would arrive in NZ to break up our current suffocating duopoly!! Tusue - astounded at the price of the salmon steaks you quoted. This country surrounded by water the price of fish is horrendous!

pascal30 Fri 15-Nov-24 17:29:11

Grannynannywanny

I do most of my shopping at Aldi. Their own brands are very good and competitively priced. Baked beans, ketchup, biscuits etc. Fruit and veg is lovely and I’ve never had a problem with it. Your biggest problem will be sticking to your shopping list and avoiding the middle aisle. You’ll be tempted to buy things you didn’t know you needed 😆

You may have previously heard the Ballad of Lidl and Aldi but it still makes me laugh.

youtu.be/cL7jyXCQ2Zc?si=wL7D6hjCAJAX_KtB

That is brilliant... such great humour the Irish have...

Primrose53 Fri 15-Nov-24 17:30:23

Grannynannywanny

PS I find their dishwasher tablets as good as the top brands at less than half the price

Oh yes, forgot those off my list. Really good buy.

I never have a prob with their fruit and veg. And the 30% off bags of spinach, cauli and broc etc are great value.

I agree about the Lacura make up too. Their BB Cream is excellent.

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Fri 15-Nov-24 17:48:36

Competition is good though ✔️
In the square below us we have a modern Aldi, Sainsbury’s with a Starbucks coffee shop, Iceland (10% off on Tuesdays 😁) a Home Bargains and a Poundland. All doing well. We are lucky here to have such choice. Plus of course Boots with their 3 for 2 offers and a Thornton to spend the money I save on their boxes of fudge ….