'How would you describe Lidl? Is it “poor food for poor people”?' blog discussion

A question about : 'How would you describe Lidl? Is it “poor food for poor people”?' blog discussion

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's How would you describe Lidl? Is it really “poor food for poor people”? Blog.

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Best answers:

• Every time I'm in a shop like Lidl/Aldi, I feel like I'm abroad shopping in a 'British' shop.
• I don't see lidl as poor food for poor people, I do occasionally get the odd bit, some things I have found very good, such as cereal, washing powder, washing up liquid, cheese, yoghurts, bakery etc.
  Obviously like any store they all vary in quality, our lidl sells very poor vegetables, the fruit however is fantastic as are the sacks of nuts.
  In my cupboard I currently have these items bought from lidl
  Pistachios
  Fresh apricots
  Fresh mangoes
  Tomatoes
  Beef steak (so it's not all in the cupboard)
  Chorizo
  Yoghurt
  Mature cheddar
  They are all good quality items, they don't come close to standard supermarket own brands we would typically find in asda, they certainly don't come close to value brands.
  As someone who saw a couple putting their lidl shop in Waitrose and harrods carrier bags I don't see lidl as poor food for poor people, but for people who want to pay a little less for certain things and also a big market for those wanting a few bits, rather than a full weekly shop.
• We shop at Lidl & Aldi but cannot rely on them having a full range of products to complete a standard weekly shop. I'd love to have the time to shop there first, and then top-up at Tesco afterwards ... but I don't.
  So we go to Lidl once a fortnight to buy things that I know they stock (frying chips, utt-butt) and have a bit of a browse whilst there.
  Aldi we visit less often, I find it more expensive than Lidl, as if they've tried to move up-market.
• I struggle finding things in Lidl or Aldi to buy. Last Friday I went to both Lidl and Aldi and ended coming out of both with nothing and had to go to my local "normal" supermarket. My local Lidl is full of Eastern European people doing their shopping where as my local Aldi is full of local Brits, my local Aldi is a lot busier than Lidl though.
  I would say that the food looks the same as any other supermarket except for the name on the label. Yeah they are cheaper but that doesn't mean they are full of skanky food. I wouldn't compare them to anything like M&S though . I would probably say they are about how Asda and Tesco were 20 years ago.
• We shop at Aldi - we can do a week's shopping inside half an hour and no real complaints about quality.
  That said, I do cook from scratch so I don't buy any of their prepared 'meals' and I have to make sure that fruit and veg is either used quickly or prepped and frozen.
  I get anything that Aldi doesn't stock roughly once a fortnight at which ever 'big' store is convenient.
• I shop & Lidl and Aldi, alternating as needed. Lidl are definitely better for veg & bread products. Where else can you get a small baguette for 15p? plus occasional special offers on unusual frozen food items. Aldi are better for beauty products & frozen desserts.
  Oddly enough I still get loo roll at Sainsbury's, the 18 roll pack lasts us a month, where every other brand or supermarket version never lasts as well.
• We shop in Lidl quite frequently because it's conveniently close and have done for several years. We also use Asda & Tesco for those things that have to be branded or we don't like from Lidl - based on taste - but there are plenty of items that we make a point of going to Lidl for.
  You can undoubtedly get some cheap & unhealthy or unpleasant stuff but is that any different from i.e. Tesco?
  Their fresh bakery range, fruit & veg, fresh meat are all good and lots of essentials are at a good price - how much do you need to pay for pasta?
  They also have their premium range and some of that is priced on a par with dearer options in Tesco so it's not always rock bottom prices.
  I've less experience of Aldi (mainly because we have to pass 4 supermarkets on the 4 or 5 miles to the closest one) but I didn't rate it as highly as Lidl.
• I used to shop more in Lidls than I do today.
  I have noticed the quality of fresh fruit and vegetables has plummeted. More and more often I was throwing stuff away - it deteriorated to the extent that I now no longer by fruit/veg from Lidls.
  The instore bakery at Lidls is absolutely dire. Maybe larger stores have better bakeries, but the one we have here is just awful. The bread products are all part-baked and just finished in-store. Everything seems to taste the same - dry and rather unpleasant.
  The milk is a penny or so cheaper than elsewhere - but care needs to be taken as it tends to be short-date-coded.
  There are a few areas where Lidls comes into its own. I wouldn't want to miss going there during Advent - they often have a nice stock of German Christmas goodies.
  I also buy crispbread (Rivercote) from Lidls, my mother likes their own-brand muesli.
  The weird and wonderful 'centre-aisle' is sometimes worth a browse. Some interesting things can be found there.
  Poor food for poor people? I don't think so. The prices are actually not as cheap as you might think.
  I don't think I am alone in my dislike of the local Lidls - the place no longer seems to attract customers at all.
  It's a shame really. My roots are German, and I have seen the really good Lidls over there.
• i don't shop there personally, but have done so a few times (inc in the last 12 months) and I for one don't quite 'get' the hype. I find the quality of the produce awful, with a nasty taste (even after washing). The prices were so-so (actually put the equiv items in basket at Tesco using same brand or 'tesco standard' and tesco was cheaper).
  But the worst element, for me, is the shopping experience itself - I just hate it - the stores look cheap & tatty (ok, yes, that's the point), dirty, with huge queues and miserable staff.
  I have no views of people who choose to shop there, as is the case for any supermarket - you shop wherever you want to be honest - but I won't be making the switch, even if it means I sometimes pay a small premium for it.
• I've just come back from my weekly shop at Lidl. The range isn't anywhere near as large as the local Tesco, so I don't use it as my main shop. But some of their own-brand products are just as good as the major supermarkets' own brands, and the prices are significantly cheaper. It's also fun to have a browse of their weekly bargain bins in the centre isles.
  I don't have an Aldi near me yet - though they have just bought a site in my town. I find the one in a neighbouring town to be cluttered and disorganised, so I don't go there unless I know they are selling something I want.
• I have started shopping at lidl, previously shopped at morrisons and i have cut our family of 5's food bill from Ј120 to Ј60 per week.
  I do cook from scratch most days so the quality and value of the meat and veg are important to me and I have yet to be disappointed.
  I recently did a full week shop plus food for a cold meat, cheese etc buffet for 11 people and still only spent Ј70.
  I have to say also the pack of 10 cornetto type ice creams for Ј2 are the best we have ever tasted.
• I go to them once a year or so.
  I am not sure about origins of milk or meat products, which is a major issue for me, so wouldn't buy those really ( feel the same about supermarkets and other preprep food so not a damn at the 'budget brands'. Veg seems variable on my rare visits, but when its looked good have bought it, including big box of clementines at Christmas. Bought one of the best pairs of outdoor work boots I've ever had from there.
• It certainly is not poor food for poor people. You have to be selective, just like you do in Tesco's and Asda. And the advantage of not having so many different types of one product is that you can quickly get what you need, and get out. As there's little pleasure to be had in grocery shopping.
  I did read somewhere a while ago that more and more middle-class people are shopping at the budget supermarkets.
• Hi everyone!
  I like Lidl because you can always find something different although it's not the best shopping experience.
  I think their new Fresh Bakery section has helped their Sales rise as it never fails to make me hungry when I'm in there shopping
  Regards
  Alexa
• Its ok for odds and ends, but no good for a full shop
• Lidl is where I do most of my shopping with occassional top-up in Aldi, I never use any of the so-called big four at all.
  The only thing I can't get there is my preferred choice of toilet paper but that is available for me in the town centre in the shop opposite my bank
• Lidl is our nearest supermarket - Asda or Tesco a 10 mile drive away - double the distance.
  We buy our fruit, veg, milk, bread, cheese, meat and other dairy products. Sometimes frozen pizza, ice cream etc. Always buy their tinned tomatoes and kidney beans. With careful picking of the fresh produce we don't have a problem. Milk usually has a very long shelf life and the majority of meat on sale is Scottish.
  Certainly couldn't do all our shopping there but usually very happy with prices and quality.
• I do my small weekly shop there and it's fine for many things. Regualr purchases are bananas, spinach, avocados, salad stuff and most veggies. I also buy their parmesan, mozzerella, blue cheese and yoghurt and gammon for OH. The big tins of dog food and dog treats are fine too. We like their crisps too. I then do a 3 -4 weekly bit supermarket shop for the things which they don't sell. My biggest annoyance is that they do not sell big bottles of skimmed milk.
• I do 80% of my shopping in Aldi, and 20% in Waitrose. Stock up at Lidl occasionally when I pass one, as there isn't one local to me. Haven't been to Tesco/Morrisons/Asda/Sainsbury's for ages even though we have all of them locally.
  I think Aldi is good because:
• If you avoid the very cheapest things everything is decent quality.
• Everything is good value. Things aren't always the absolute cheapest compared to Tesco Value and friends, but I can be confident that for the quality I get everything is a good price. Chilled food (cheese, deli, etc) is particularly good.
• It's quick. I don't want spend hours doing a shop, I can get around quickly. Because I can trust that things are good VFM, I don't have to do endless price comparing of the 20 different lines of the same product.
• It has no pretensions. None of this putting the bread at the far corner of the shop so you have to walk around the whole thing. Or the tedious psychology of putting the cheap items on the bottom shelf so you see the expensive ones first.
• The 'Special Buys' are more miss than hit with me, but occasionally I find something that I need (would have bought anyway). They aren't always bargain basement, but the again the quality you get is usually better than you would expect for the price. Generally I'm buying tools and such which are decent quality.
• The checkout technique is an acquired skill. I usually grab a few empty boxes off shelves as I go around (there's usually a pallet the shelfstackers throw them on when unpacking). Then, when the checkout operator throws my shopping at me I can just drop it in a box. Boxes in trolley, trolley takes them to car, unload at home, boxes in recycling. No messing about with dozens of useless carrier bags.

Bad stuff:

• Price labelling is often haphazard
• Much of the fruit and veg aren't refrigerated so you have to be careful: buying high-turnover lines like Super 6 is generally fine, but others may have sat around for a while. As Aldi has got more popular freshness has improved.
• The really cheap stuff isn't a good idea (99p sausages were not my friend).
• I went to a town the other day whose main supermarket was Aldi. That was strange. I'm not sure I'd want that.

Lidl and Aldi have their own strengths and weaknesses: Lidl's dried fruit is better for instance, Aldi's veg is better. Lidl's food on 'special buy' is usually better, as does Lidl's wine. And so on.
I tend to buy all the fridge/storecupboard things are Aldi, and then topup betweentimes for bread/veg/milk/sundries at Waitrose. Generally works well for me.