Is Lidl worth the price?

TomSharp

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I have been debating switching my weekly shop to Lidl as it appears to be the cheapest of all the supermarkets. I was just wondering however, is the quality okay and do they have a big enough range? I have heard from a few friends that it's not as good as the other supermarkets but then I guess you are paying slightly less.

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Jon

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I would say they also don't stock everything in a main supermarket so you then end up having to do 2 shops each week
 

kaiserpups

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I used to use Lidl. I went and got what I could there and then picked the rest of it up at my local supermarket, which was Tesco. I ended up spending more doing it that way than just shopping in Tesco alone - go figure!
 
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Chammy

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Just come back from Lidl. Quality is fine, especially for the non-branded items such as fresh meat, veg and dairy but they don't always have everything you want - especially very niche things so I'm popping to Asda for my LoSalt and Jelly crystals ;)
 
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TomSharp

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I would say they also don't stock everything in a main supermarket so you then end up having to do 2 shops each week
You would end up wasting a lot more time shopping too I guess
 

homie

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I alternate; one week Lidl, one week Tesco. Sometimes Tesco's cheap own label range is cheaper than Lidl (what used to be the value range) so compare prices and see what's cheapest.

Lidl's Baileys substitute is £3.75 a bottle and I served it to my friends at the weekend and none of them realised it wasn't Baileys. (although they are not exactly connoisseurs)
 
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Karonher

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It's not one I use often as there is virtually every other supermarket/freezer centre nearer, but when I do there is never a problem with it. It depends what you use I suppose.
 

katykicker

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I think they're great, and a monthly delivery top-up shop of items you can't get there is a great way to use Lidl or Aldi and still have those brands you love. Best of all the other supermarkets often send you a voucher if you've not used it for a while so you can switch between Tesco, Sainsburys etc :)
 

Blackpepper1

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I find I can get virtually everything in Aldi. I can get away with not shopping elsewhere but am often going out anyway at Morrison’s or Sainsbury’s during the week so will pick up anything there that I need.
Lidl is the same I used to get everything I needed there when we were living opposite an Lidl which also happened to have a big Tesco Extra as well nearby so it was easy to get to both.
Now I am not near a Lidl I have a Aldi just up the road which is handy. So just use Aldi now.
It does just depend what you buy as obviously Aldi may not have any specialist food or a particular brand you like.
For me though Aldi and also Lidl have everything I need for a weekly shop and with Aldi it doesn’t take long as I know where everything is.
 

rninja

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I love Lidl.

Great products at a good price: Scottish oat cakes, fruit and fibre cereals, wholemeal bread, skyr yoghurt, Polish meats.

Just wish that people would hurry up at the self-service checkouts :)
 

maisiemog

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Lidl and Aldi are my two closest supermarkets so I alternate each week between them and then do a monthly online delivery from Sainsbury’s. I also use home bargains once a month for lunch box things as they work out cheaper and stock up the freezer every couple of months at farm foods using the money off vouchers that come through the door.
 
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homie

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Something no one has mentioned yet - All the random shit in the middle aisle. I say middle aisle, in fact in some shops it takes up half the store. If they got rid of that they could massively expand their range of food.

I don't really need to browse for: children's fancy dress costumes, blades for a circular saw, dog basket, gardening tools, or a car cleaning set, etc when I'm shopping for food.
 
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David Says...

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Something no one has mentioned yet - All the random shit in the middle aisle. I say middle aisle, in fact in some shops it takes up half the store. If they got rid of that they could massively expand their range of food.

I don't really need to browse for: children's fancy dress costumes, blades for a circular saw, dog basket, gardening tools, or a car cleaning set, etc when I'm shopping for food.

Conversely those buying circular saw blades don't need to browse food! These 'specials' do pull people into Lidl (and Aldi)...

The range of food is deliberately narrow to reduce costs. Fewer options means that the store has to carry less stock, and there are lower warehousing costs. Take Cornflakes, for example; the German retailer might offer their own brand and a single sized boxed of Kellogs. Sainsbury's has the cost of maintaining basic cornflake products in the following formats: Sainsbury's 'Basics', Sainsbury's 'Organic', Sainsbury's 'Standard', Sainsbury's 'Free From', Kellogg's 'XXL', Kellogg's 250g, Kellogg's 24g, Nestle Gluten Free.

I'm sure that's a sufficient market for the niche products, but Aldi and Lidl's approach is quit refreshing - less choice is often less stressful!
 

Jon

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See my parents RAVE about the middle isles and buy all sorts of random crap but they don't buy any food items!

The heck is all that about lol
 

katykicker

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I buy items from the middle aisle. With the type of events they do I'd say Aldi are trying to pull in parents a lot, who will then presumably spend more money on snacks, and buy the slightly overpriced branded items to save going elsewhere.
 
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RSK

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Lidl/ Aldi - cheap but good quality. We do our main shopping there and save lots of cash, compared with what we used to spend in Tesco/ Sainsburys! We pay far too much for 'branded' goods, anyway!
 

Jon

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You know there must be the demand for these stores due to the rate at which they are cropping up!

new supermarket coming to your area? You can bet it will be an aldi or lidl compared to a Tesco or Asda!!!
 

Erber92

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I love my local aldi! Before we moved I had a lidl close to me but I didn't use it very often. Their range of fresh fruit, veg and meat was rubbish, however everything else was great quality and great value. I think it was just the area, they didn't sell alot of the fresher items so it didn't make sense for them to stock a large range.

When I moved I started going to aldi and I love it! The one local to me used to be a co-op so it's much bigger and more spacious than most of them which are purpose built. I can get everything I need there including fresh fruit and veg and meat. I usually spend £50 a week for a basic shop for a family of 4 (3 meals every day of the week, nappies and wipes and basic cleaning supplies). I can spend the same in tesco just picking up a few bits. I might spend £60-£65 if I include extras that week like sweets, snacks and juice. This week we were £46 for the weekly shop, basic meals for the week, no nappies and wipes but we did get extras like crisps, biscuits and sweets plus tins and bits for the cupboard (trying to stock up incase we get hit with bad snow this year).

I think people are getting more comfortable with using discounters since they have less disposable income and more people are using them. There's less embarrassment about it. I know people that work there and most of the stuff comes from the same factories as asda, tesco etc it's just packaged differently.
 
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