Aldi wins !
Aldi have apparently toppled Waitrose as leaders in the supermarkets customer satisfaction survey. The top 3 being Aldi, M&S and Lidl.
Apparently customers were impressed with not only Aldi prices but the high volume of UK produced fruit and vegetable that they sell compared to the imported goods of the others.
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One of the big attractions is the lack of the banal music you get in other stores. They also sell per unit not the multibuys seen in M & S etc. Why do M & S insist on selling multibuys on perishable goods thus being one of the contributors to food waste.
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I love Aldi for many reasons. The quality of the goods, lack of frills (which must cost us the consumer more in the long run). lack of multi buys, friendly and efficient staff to name but a few. I rarely shop anywhere else now.
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So do Aldi have a fresh meat counter, fresh fish counter, deli? Do they have a comprehensive wine selection?
David
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Aldi and Lidl have been one of the best things to happen in this country in terms of supermarkets.
A great deal of the products sold in the main s/m comes from the same factories, just labelled differently. Some foods come from the same factories, but may have slightly different ingredients stipulated by different supermarkets, or maybe for a premium range at that supermarket. My sister had the job of visiting M&S head office in London to send them samples of yoghurts and desserts produced at a big dairy firm in our home town. They were exactly the same as other products going to other s/ m's, but the prices were higher. Folks who shop at M&S, Waitrose, Ocado think that the products may be nicer, but this isn't always the case.
Some Aldi and Lidl foods are definitely different. Some is much nicer, some is not. Probably linked to more European taste preferences? I don't like Aldi's tomato pasta sauces in jars, yet their chocolate brands are superb. Lidl's instore bakeries are very good.
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I needed Lavazza coffee, Leffe beer, some Chinese five spice powder, and an odd sort of light bulb. Aldi and Lidl had none of them but Tesco did.
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Our Aldi sells lavazza coffee! But it's done as a special, at a special price! My sister bought a few samples for us at Christmas. This can be one of the frustrating things about the smaller supermarkets, they stock things for a few months, then suddenly it disappears. But on the plus side, there's usually something new to try!
But I get your point, A &L don't stock anything like as many products on a regular basis. But neither do they have lots of "different" makes at different prices all made in the same factory!
I also understand where DK is coming from above as well. No fresh butchery or fish counter (being a veggie it academic to me). But their wines and beers have won numerous awards.
Dried pasta is one of my little foodie niggles. I like quality bronze dyed stuff, rather than cheap pap. Saw same brand, same size packet in both Tesco and Aldi. One was for sale at £2.99 per bag, other at £1.45 per bag. You can guess which I bought and where from!
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We tend to find that we are unable, or unwilling, to do a complete shop in any one supermarket but our S/ms are located quite close to each other in our market town.
Aldi's is for coffee, chocolate (agree with TTDA), dried apricots, mayonnaise, welsh cheddar cheese (because it's half the price than the same cheese at Tesco), some everyday drinking wine, and fruit and veg .They have also started selling Cod loin, albeit in packet, but it's excellent quality and half the price of the S/ms.
Lidl have the best Smoked Salmon by far, Mustard Ham, Serrano Ham, Tinned Mackerel and Nuts.
DK - I was in Tesco and Sainsbury the other day and I wouldn't have touched their "fresh" fish or meat with a bargepole. Dreadful.
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Very different to most supermarkets. They have changed display units in a lot of instances, fruit and veg is now displayed different to early days. Lots of stuff is in basket type stalls, so can look a tad untidy at busy times, and the tills are totally different. You are moved along very quickly, expected to pack behind tills. This doesn't suit the elderly or those who like to linger, but is brilliant if you are a fast packer and very organised. I can do a big shop and be through till in same time as it takes just to go through a conventional till at other supermarkets, which suits me. There are some very quiet times though, and a good browse pays dividends for finding some real good value bargains. They do a couple of "touring" specials each year, great for stocking up on loo blue and other quality caravan products. But not all stuff is nice admittedly.
If I were you HD, I would have a look around when it is quiet, and have a good browse. We have tried lots of products over the last two years or so, and found lots that we like, others that we wouldn't try again. But the difference in price on a big shop is noticeably different. We just top up on other products now at other supermarkets.
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Quite agree Ttda. I quoted the Colliers Welsh Cheddar Cheese in my previous post. Bought some lat week at Aldi, a 350g Pack cost me £2.09. The very same cheese and size at Tesco costs £4.00. This is typical of the saving that can be made.
If certain people wish to continue to pay £4.00 just so they can get "points" or just look down on so called cheap stores because they don't have the cache of other more famous outfits then good luck to them.
My one indulgence is to buy certain Wheat Free items from M&S as they are excellent and they are one of the few large supermarkets that go out of their way to ensure their Sausage range doesn't have any wheat added. Quite a lot of the other S/ms sausages do contain it. I need products I can rely on.
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Aldi doesn't win with us because we haven't got one. In fact we did have one but they had to close due to difficulty with access. I used to like Aldi and Lidl more when they first appeared in the UK, they had more interesting foods from the "continent" now they have less. I'm not brand loyal so I do what others do and use a variety of shops. As customer service is so basic in Alde and Lidl I think I prefer some of the other shops. I wonder how the survey was geared? If it was just on price I would probably agree.
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We have a lidl and they are just starting to build a new Aldi , but I use sainsburys because they are "our side" of the town , and after being in my shop all week ,I just want shop and get home , my brother uses Lidi and gets us some things and yes,the quality is good
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It's a strange survey, the sample sizes are all over the place for a start, and of course no one knows the demographics of the people surveyed.
We used to be keen Sainsbury shoppers, then I had a less than satisfactory experience returning a product, so avoid them now if I have a choice. Then we opted for a Tesco online shop which was just so easy, and we seldom had any problems with products or service. Morrisons are good for fresh veg and fish, always better than other biggies. Being fish eating semi veggies (piscatarians), Waitrose offer some different none meat products, and we use If on our travels as we don't have a Waitrose closer than 10 miles away. Don't use Lidl much, but find they are still more continental than Aldi, and they have a good instore bakery, and do lovely specials at Christmas. Both Aldi and Lidl do some nice veggie products, more so than M&S. We struggle at M&S at times if away, other than for cheese.
We discovered Booths supermarkets last year. Very nice, high degree of local produce. But you can't beat a proper market or a good deli for really nice stuff. We are on a low salt kick at the moment, so I am going back to making my own sauces, rather than using stuff in jars or packets.
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Can quite understand that, after a busy day last thing you want is any more traffic or shopping hassle.
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It's Cornwall here so we have a good butcher and a really local fishmonger, so no problem with those - but I only go to supermarkets that stock everything else on my grocery list. Not a few of the things that are on my list - all of them. The discount supermarkets simply don't do that, and I'm not going to drive from one store to another to hunt and search for everything I need. Sweet chilli sauce, elderflower cordial, Parmesan cheese, chocolate truffles, Sichuan pepper and firelighters tomorrow.
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Supermarket fish can be 17 days old and still called "fresh". Supermarket meat is always in the headlines for all the wrong reason. Horse comes to mind and only these last few weeks, incorrect labelling by a processor. So using the big 4 is no guarantee of quality. In most
Which surveys Aldi or LIdl come out top in their findings. What you get is unit prices no multibuys and hence food waste. Like for like they surpass the others. but of course Snobbery plays a big part here.
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Some areas are not well served by certain supermarkets, and I wouldn't want to have to travel far either. Of your list ET, Aldi do gorgeous chocolate truffles, at least three or four different types, a very nice sweet chilli sauce and proper Parma Reggiano hard cheese at a fraction of the cost of other places. Not sure on the pepper, and firefighters are seasonal!
We have two Asda's, two Morrisons, two Tesco Extra's, three Aldi's, a Lidl, two little Tesco's and a local Co-Op all within five miles of where we live. Sainsbury's and Waitrose further away, M&S food as part of a large M&S store. So not short of choice here.
Penzance interests me........unless something has changed, a Morrisons, a Tesco and a Sainsbury's all within 400 metres of each other........The heliport was far more useful!
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We use Lidl rather than ALDI mainly because it is nearer and easier to reach and the nearest ALDI is older and quite dingy. As far as we can tell though prices and quality are about the same but you do have to watch the fruit and veg at both for evidence of rough handling which does happen there.
For us M&S is in the next car park to LIDL so also gets used with Tesco over the road for what we cannot get at the other two.
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Reading the BBC report on this survey seems to indicate that value for money was the main reason for Aldi being the winner. However it seems to have very little else to recommend it, at least by this quote from the article
"Customers criticised Aldi stores for being "untidy" and for a lack of staff availability, but rated them highly for offering value for money, according to consumer group Which?."
What they don't mention is the packing question which annoys a lot of people!!! I am sure, like all store groups, branches vary according to age and how they are managed but I would say that our nearest Aldi fits in with the Which description. It is not a particularly nice environment to shop in. I suppose at the end of the day you pays your money etc.
David
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What we have noticed about Aldi /Lidl is that it all depends on the location of the store and how easy it is to recruit staff ,as with most supermarkets which then shows in how the store is run as they are always busy, especially on a Thursday when the next weeks offers tend to begin, in one of our fairly local Lidl it has just had the latest makeover with big upright cool cabinets, self serve tills and very posh public toilets
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My Mum struggles with Aldi DK, things at the tills seem strange to her, and I can fully understand others feeling the same. Agree that at times some of the stores look like a tornado has gone through. But like or loathe them, they have delivered a big kick up the pants of the mainstream supermarkets, and a lot of ideas from the two stores have been copied into places like Tesco and Asda in terms of offering items at bargain prices. Its a tad unfair comparing them in reality, they are so different. I think a lot depends on your personal diet choices as well.
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Son who works for a "Part"of Tesco told us some weeks ago that there is going to be a "New" chain of supermarkets in the "pipeline",to take on the "infiltrators" I asked him are they going to "compete" then if succesful go back to higher prices he just smiled
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Both Aldi and Lidl are very good on pricing, low overheads and basic store design no doubt keep prices down. We have a vg new Lidl in our nearest town, it's well lit, has customer toilets and easy parking. For myself, if I hadn't got a car I couldn't get to either of the Lidls in our area, no public transport passes in their direction from where I live. If I was on a restricted income I would be missing out on good value food.
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We have no loyalty to any of the supermarkets but choose to shop around for what we' like' rather than what is the cheapest.
We don't have a Sainsburys or Waitrose but from what I've seen of them when away I probably wouldn't use them.
Lidl and Aldi we were used to when living in Germany, Asda and Tesco are the biggies in our town with only a smaller Morrisons and M&S food.
We no longer have a fishmonger is town but we do have a fresh fish van from Arbroath, that comes to the village every week, we also have fresh butcher in the village but I've only ever used it twice in 27 years of living here. No green grocer either, so everything is pretty much bought through the supermarkets. I too like that that big multi buys are not supported by Lidl and Aldi, 1 melon or pineapple is enough at a time
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We are lucky as we have a good selection of the main shops reasonably near to us.
Living about the same distance from 2 large commuter "villages", within 2-3 miles we have 2 x M&S, Tesco, Waitrose, Asda and Lidl, the latter being only a 5 minute walk away.
Then within 3-4 miles we also have Morrisons, Sainsburys and Aldi x 2, plus another M&S. One Aldi and this M&S are right next to each other and very close to DD's house, which is handy. The other Aldi is brand new and very nice. Our Lidl store is small and old, they are looking for another location, but if they get this they may well close down this one. Unfortunately there is no space where they are to enlarge the store.
Not a lot to choose between Aldi and Lidl, we are more used to Lidl, but the 2 Aldis are much bigger so have a better selection. We do find you need to watch the fruit and veggies for damage, and often they do not keep well so we need to shop more often.
For special treats we use M&S and Waitrose, buying the special offers the prices can be reasonable. Not happy Waitrose are stopping the Pick your own Offers scheme.
Both Lidl and Aldi do scan you through the till very fast, but we just load everything back into the trolley and pack at our leisure.
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Sainsbury's has just been caught out!
selling two almost identical Valentine cards.....
with love to my wife £2
with love to my husband £2.50
Naughty.
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It is slightly ironic that apart from Mercedes and BMW the most famous German exports are Aldi and Lidl!!!!
David
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Volkswagen? Daimler? Sauerkraut? (yuk)
Leibfraumilch? My OH tells me Bismarck set up the first pension scheme as we would recognise it.
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