Aldi and Lidl

I adore both Lidl and Aldi as they both offer quality items at excellent value. I do most of my shopping there. I enjoy the special offer non food items and have bought various clothing items T shirts, etc. a paper shredder, garden plants, flowers...
Good luck to them. Haven't been to Waitrose for ages as money goes nowhere.

greattasteawards.co.uk/2014-winners/
Aldi have won several Great taste awards. 44 I think. They are out for the jugular.

I do wonder how they manage to sell stuff so cheap though.

Where we have been staying this week in France, our local shop was a Lidl. We have found out that their semi skimmed long-life milk is deliciously creamy and I, for one, can't tell the difference in taste from fresh.

I agree about the citrus olives in Aldi, I've got a pack sitting in the fridge at the moment

Well, I must share with you.... back from a great holiday and popped to Aldi for stocks. Saw some citrus olives and bought them... they are devine!
We usually get our olives from a Cypriot friend who imports them from his own trees and they are wonderful, but these citrus olives from Aldi come second by a whisker of loyalty to our friend.

Oh dear, just heard the news, Waitrose profits are down and free coffee being blamed.

In my local Waitrose, provided I use my Waitrose card, I can have a free cup of coffee but no biscuit, unless I pay for it. There are communal newspapers to read when having coffee or a meal. If one spends £5 during the week, one can take a free Daily Mail, Guardian or Telegraph. At weekends one has to spend £10 for the free newspaper.

They have now set up a take away serve yourself coffee machine so in theory anybody with a card could pop in and help themselves.

My nearest Aldi is around 5 miles away but in stop/start London traffic I do not know how cost effective that would be but I must visit it soon.

I saw a sign up in Waitrose this morning that they had been voted best supermarket by WHICH. I wonder what criteria they were using .Not public opinion, I'm sure !

Tegan
You have to have a waitrose card, which costs nothing, but I get a free newspaper, cup of coffee and biscuit every time I shop in Waitrose, no cake, but perhaps the John Lewis scheme is different. I am not sure what you are supposed to spend, it used to be £5 but I have heard that it has gone up to £10 although that maybe just at weekends

Tegan, the Waitrose card gives you a free coffee etc every day. No cake though. You also get a free newspaper from a limited selection if you spend over a certain amount. The My Waitrose card also gives discounts on some stuff. I got 35p off milk the other day. Better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick as my Dad used to say

Isn't the John Lewis scheme limited to about 6-9 months ? You have to apply for a card which I don't think has any benefits.

I love John Lewis but unfortunately there is not one anywhere near us. The good news is that they are opening a really big one in Brum in September 2015

Someone told me yesterday that Waitrose have the same scheme that John Lewis have whereby you get a free cup of coffee and a cake each month. The John Lewis one is a brilliant idea because we get about £10 of food and it stops us from thinking twice about having to pay for parking in Nottingham. And it's well nigh impossible to go to John Lewis without buying something [the S.O. bought me a Fossil bag last time we went ].

Recently heard, on the radio, that 'catch all Tesco' is losing out to people who, like me, shop at Lidl for bargains and M&S or Waitrose for luxury.
(Expecting someone to pop up and say luxury only to be found in Fortnum and Mason or Harrods food hall...)

I have found the staff in our nearest Lidl very helpful.

I love Lidl and have watched our local one go from strength to strength since its inception 3 years ago. The only problems I think are lack of customer service if you have a problem or query plus no loos( and the shop is nowhere near the town centre). Perhaps other branches have these facilities ?

Our Waitrose is making changes, a larger cafe with new menu, bar area in the alcohol dept, juice bar with the fruit and veg, seats in the delicatessen area to try deli platters, new bakery dept and other alterations. It's a different way of competing, but I wonder if it will take more trade from the local restaurants than the cheaper supermarkets as it also has a large free car park.

And their jam has more fruit in than the usual English brands..

I also bought a pair of white linen shorts this week in Aldi... £6.99.

Nearest shop for me is a 5 min walk to Tesco, it takes longer by car, these last few weeks it has almost been empty, school hols, but 1 min more walk is coming Lidl, Tesco will be empty then, we have another Lidl as bus ride away, recently enlarged.

Himself likes the salamis, big tubs of Greek yogourt, we keep the tubs and take them with us to our rented place in India, they go down a bomb there, cant get enough of them.

Off to Lidl in a mo, will try to avoid pastry temptation!

Next time you're in a Lidl, look at their own tomato ketchup, and compare the ingredients list to Heinz. The Lidl one has more tomato per grm or mil or whatever than the Heinz one, and is usually around half the price!

Our local Lidl is advertising for staff at present, and it seems that they pay more than most supermarkets.

The other thing I like is their policy that if there are more than 3 people queuing at a till, they open another one. In Morrisons it can take longer to queue and pay for your shopping than it did to actually go round and get it!

In Barnstaple there are 2 Lidls and one of them is pretty big. I don't get to Barnstaple that often, but it's also where our nearest proper M&S is.

I think they keep prices down by not employing so many people and the shops are smaller so you can get round quicker.

Treat myself to a bunch or two! Though tart myself may be correct! It's too early....