Aldi and Lidl

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

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

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.

Big Lidl fan here, nearest Aldi is too far to use. Only problem I have is that with some of their veg it isn't sold loose, so no opportunity to buy (for example) just a couple of carrots.

Aldi's English plums are lovely at the moment

Have been a Lidl fan for ages.

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Having lived and worked in Germany for a year, I was quite used to shopping in Aldi and Lidl long before they started their expansion in the UK. I don't think of them as cheap. I think of them as fairly priced whereas Tesco and (particularly) Sainsbury's are very expensive.

They have a trading philosophy which is very different from that of the mainstream British supermarkets. The "Big 4" aim to have a certain percentage of their core items in stock at all times as they believe that when we go to a supermarket we want to be able to get our entire week's shopping in one go. So if, for example, the price which they pay for Baked Beans goes up substantially then they raise their retail prices accordingly as that is the only way they can maintain their in-stock percentage.

Aldi and Lidl approach things in a different way. They begin by setting the retail price of the item. And if the price of Baked Beans goes up one week so that they would not be able to sell at their agreed retail price then they simply do not buy Baked Beans - and for a while Baked Beans will disapear from their shelves. Wholesale prices fluctuate all the time. Aldi and Lidl only buy when they can buy at what they consider to be the right price.

I will continue to buy everything I can from them, and only go to the "Big 4" for things Aldi and Lidl don't stock.

That's handy to know, lefthanded. I went to Tesco's a few days ago, for items I couldn't get in Aldi, which is across the road from there. Having been absent from Tesco's for some weeks, I was shocked to see some of the prices had risen by ridiculous amounts. Milk is an unrealistically low price - a massive container for £1, then the next size down also £1 for 2 litres. Why is Tesco allowed to muck about with prices like this? Why do farmers feel they have to trade with them? No wonder they are losing profits when there are such stark differences.

jings they can also sell at such low prices because they cover Europe, not just the UK. 15 years ago I did all of our shopping at Lidl, as it was right near my son's school, and our german exchange student was astonished to see that we shopped in the same supermarket as her mother.

We now have Lidl nearby ( by which I also mean 5 miles away, as are Aldi, Teco is even further, and Sainsbury) and I am so pleased - as the Lidl is very close to Sainsbury, it means I can go to Lidl and then top up from Sainsbury. I shan't desert Aldi, though. They had ostrich steaks last week!

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Although someone has obviously been naughty ^ I may as well post while this has been revived!

Lidl currently have ostrich steaks too, as well as bottles of Bucks Fizz for £1.99, plus some very nice mens eau de toilette for £3.99.

Mr P has long been a fan of their XBolt (also £3.99) which smells almost identical to Hugo Boss, but this is a new one which I have bought for his stocking, along with some de luxe Columbian coffee 100% Arabica coffee beans in an attractive wooden barrel, so that's 2 presents for him at a total cost of £6.49. They also have large (300gm) jars of Nescafe Original for £4.86.

I was very tempted by some mango and vanilla ice cream, but will wait until the new fridge freezer is installed!

Just off to Lidl AND with a £5 off a £40 shop voucher. Number 2 son back from Amsterdam today so will be restocking the cupboards ready for the grazer's return!

I recommend the Stollen bites and the prosecco in Aldi, and Lidl.

Ooooh noooooo I forgot to use my voucher! Aaargh.......

In tests done this week, 90% of women preferred the smell of Lidl's new perfume to Chanel No 5. Apparently the two scents are very similar, the only downside to the Lidl one was that it wore off more quickly Lidl's is £3.99 and Chanel is £70. I will get myself down to Lidl tomorrow to splurge £3.99 to see what I think.

Apologies - it was Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, not No 5.

KatyK they have the testers out, have a squirt, leave it to warm and see if you like it. Oh, and they have just brought out candles in the same fragrance! Might get one of those for the sitting room, seeing as Waitrose haven't had their Frankincense & Myrrh ones for the second year running.

(Still can't believe I forgot to use the voucher, I had even put it in my purse so that there was no chance of leaving it at home.............) [cross]

Damn, I always forget it's not "cross" it's

My purse is littered with out-of-date vouchers phoenix. So annoying. [stupid me]

I will do that Phoenix, thank you. I am always taking vouchers to shops and coming home with them still in my bag. I get so annoyed with myself! I do the Asda price guarantee (sounds a bit mean but it all helps). I have had four pounds worth of vouchers which were just about to run out. I remembered them today thankfully and got my little bit off

I was at Tescos checkout today, running late so didn't have time to go through my vouchers, so the lad at the checkout scanned them for me and I had a £2 off voucher which I'd not seen.

Every little helps, as they say!

Just hoping that we can manage to use the voucher before it runs out. It says Sunday 30th, I wonder if that means before Sunday (no chance!) or that you can still use it on Sunday?

Other things that I've picked up are a very decent size foil tray dish thing for roasting the turkey in (99p) which will save washing up, and a twin pack of foil trays that I will use for the pigs in blankets and some extra stuffing. For the last few years we have had the three bird roast, which you cook in the tray it comes in, but this year we have decided to have a "proper" turkey, and as we don't have a dishwasher anything to make it all easier is fine in my book!

The foil trays will go into the recycling, so I don't feel too guilty.

I will be buying Aldi prepared roast parsnips again this year. They come in a foil tray with a sachet of flavouring but I can't remember what flavour but they're yummy.

Yes, you will be ok to use that Sunday phoenix.