Which own brand/budget products are good?

vicwatson

Northern catch cod in batter from aldi is lovely, much nicer than Donegal catch

Banjo String

Red Crow wrote: »

Just to second this. I tried out the Aldi Razors and I have to say that they are very good quality. The razor costs 3.49 to buy and that comes with 3 blades. A refill pack is 2.09 which contains 6 refills. They are great value and certainly there is not a big difference in quality. I have to shave every odd day for work and I've found them to be excellent. It's not going to be as cheap as DE but it's a great shave for a great price.

I have found these to be a bit flimsy tbh. Just tapping them against the sink to dislodge hairpin razor almost always results in the head shooting of the end.

Adrian4

Rich Tea biscuits @ 28c are pretty good compared with the branded versions.

ABajaninCork

Aldi's Devon Cream crackers are tasty and very good value at 26c.

K-9

vicwatson wrote: »

Northern catch cod in batter from aldi is lovely, much nicer than Donegal catch

I tried the frozen fish in Lidl and found it terrible.

I try the Inishmara range or the Aldi equivalent. If you buy 2 packs on offer, you are getting a much better quality product for Donegal Catch type prices.

Donegal catch is very over rated, a fancy Irish Birds Eye basically.

Whereas, a good catch from Donegal, like me, is never over rated!

cjmcork

Aldi have THE nicest chocolate mini eggs BAR NONE!

upinthesky

I hate chopped and shaped fish, aldi chunky fish is lovely and a great price, there are 4 in the pack.

On another note why do company (big als) charge an arm an a leg for chopped and shaped chicken? It looks lovely on the pack, and then you read the ingredients..

The_Conductor

lisar816 wrote: »

I hate chopped and shaped fish, aldi chunky fish is lovely and a great price, there are 4 in the pack.

On another note why do company (big als) charge an arm an a leg for chopped and shaped chicken? It looks lovely on the pack, and then you read the ingredients..

Once upon a time they didn't even have to declare it on the packet. You- and indeed most people on this thread- are the educated minority who actually read packets and care about more than the headline price.

If we were to take this thread at its basic level- and ask what budget products are good- we could go back to basics- get some nice chicken in Aldi, shred it with breadcrumbs, bind it with egg, flavour it with a little salt and pepper- and some paprika- use cookie cutters to shape it, lightly tempura batter it- and cook it in fresh oil- for less than the price of any of the manufactured products- you can add flavouring that kids like (most go ape for paprika)- and presto you have a healthy alternative that children will love, at a budget. You can't reuse the oil- so use the cheapest sunflower oil in Aldi or Lidl- and sign up to a recycle scheme- and save a few pence in that direction too.

Unfortunately- if you start to read the labels- you will only get angry. Aldi and Lidl make money even on their cheap products. At the end of the day something has to give- and while Tesco et al may get away with massively higher profit margins for similar quality products- at the end of the day its the consumer who pays the price, through the lowest possible priced ingredients that they can get away with being used.

Look up a recipe for a tempura batter- which will take you 3 minutes to mix- and you can make far tastier, far healthier and cheaper food- than Big Als or any other pre-processed tidbits.

javagal

I used to work for odlums and they make the Tesco value oats and it's the exact same stuff as odlums porridge just different packaging

The_Conductor

javagal wrote: »

I used to work for odlums and they make the Tesco value oats and it's the exact same stuff as odlums porridge just different packaging

The Flahavans one is the same- the only difference is a little skimmed milk powder is added to the 'Premium' product- no other difference.

upinthesky

Yes, i tend to season my own chicken wings and legs, you can get large packets for half the price of ready made..

hibble

Lidl's liquorice allsorts are better than Basset's and much cheaper................as my waistline would show.

ABajaninCork

Being Barbadian, I don't do bland anyway! I season my own meat with the exception of corned beef which I boil with a bouquet garni. I don't understand why people spend an absolute fortune on ready-prepared fish and meat, when you can do your own to your own taste for far cheaper. AND you know what's gone in there!!

The best one? McCain's microwave jacket potatoes. My SiL can't cook, and buys lots of these breaded fish, chicken in breadcrumbs, ready-made salads and so on. All under the banner of 'Healthy Eating'. She got on to the microwave jacket potatoes and was trying to tell my husband how healthy they were. Of course, he doesn't do the shopping - I do! She wasn't pleased when I pointed out what a waste of money they were and that even my darling husband who is no cook, can do jacket potatoes...

iwantmydinner

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Being Barbadian, I don't do bland anyway! I season my own meat with the exception of corned beef which I boil with a bouquet garni. I don't understand why people spend an absolute fortune on ready-prepared fish and meat, when you can do your own to your own taste for far cheaper. AND you know what's gone in there!!

The best one? McCain's microwave jacket potatoes. My SiL can't cook, and buys lots of these breaded fish, chicken in breadcrumbs, ready-made salads and so on. All under the banner of 'Healthy Eating'. She got on to the microwave jacket potatoes and was trying to tell my husband how healthy they were. Of course, he doesn't do the shopping - I do! She wasn't pleased when I pointed out what a waste of money they were and that even my darling husband who is no cook, can do jacket potatoes...

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the ad for those

B0jangles

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Being Barbadian, I don't do bland anyway! I season my own meat with the exception of corned beef which I boil with a bouquet garni. I don't understand why people spend an absolute fortune on ready-prepared fish and meat, when you can do your own to your own taste for far cheaper. AND you know what's gone in there!!

The best one? McCain's microwave jacket potatoes. My SiL can't cook, and buys lots of these breaded fish, chicken in breadcrumbs, ready-made salads and so on. All under the banner of 'Healthy Eating'. She got on to the microwave jacket potatoes and was trying to tell my husband how healthy they were. Of course, he doesn't do the shopping - I do! She wasn't pleased when I pointed out what a waste of money they were and that even my darling husband who is no cook, can do jacket potatoes...

You just reminded me of this wonderful product:



Saves you all the time and effort of adding salt to flour!

snubbleste

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Aldi's chocolate digestives are the business! Taste just like McVitie's for a fraction of the price.
That's the good news. The bad news? There have been none in the store for the past three weeks and no-one seems to know when they'll be back in stock. :mad:

Still not in stock two months on. Meanwhile Lidl's version has increased from 69c to 89c!

Mo2012

Love aldis chocolate digestives and asked a member of staff why they haven't had any in stock since Christmas- the factory in England that makes them caught fire.

dvcireland

hfallada wrote: »

I tried them and thought they were disgusting. Aldi used to sell the Irish jelly bean companies ones in an own brand packaging. They were incredible

those lidl jelly beans are pretty rank, however Tesco's mini gems, jelly beans and wine gums are lovely

Dickerty

Mo2012 wrote: »

Love aldis chocolate digestives and asked a member of staff why they haven't had any in stock since Christmas- the factory in England that makes them caught fire.

In unrelated news, Aldi is now selling Premium Smoked Oats...

snubbleste

Tesco 8 pancakes €2.00 are compared to Lidl Connell 8 pancakes €0.99 in the tescopricepromise - this means they are roughly the same ingredients but less than half price

upinthesky

Aldi kilkeely gold butter in the gold tub(the orange stripe one) is exactly like dairygold only less than half the price..

Amalgam

Lidl's W5 Washing up liquid works fine, 'old school squeaky', none of that moisturiser lark.. (Fairy eats the hands off of me..)



Under 1 euro for close to 1L.

lonestargirl

There is new muesli in Lidl, I scanned the barcode into myfitnesspal which identified it as Dorset Cereals. These retail for €5+ usually but the Lidl one is €1.39.

jjbrien

Dunnes Stores Gold Spread tastes exactly the same as Dairygold even has the same EEC manufactors number on the lablel the tub is exactly the same too. Its just dairygold in a dunnes wrapper but its far far cheaper.

SuperValu reduced suger beans mmmmmm best beans out there too

upinthesky

jjbrien wrote: »

Dunnes Stores Gold Spread tastes exactly the same as Dairygold even has the same EEC manufactors number on the lablel the tub is exactly the same too. Its just dairygold in a dunnes wrapper but its far far cheaper.

SuperValu reduced suger beans mmmmmm best beans out there too

I thought this alright only because i had a look at it's fat content, but hadn't got a chance to try it..

prodsc

Mo2012 wrote: »

Love aldis chocolate digestives and asked a member of staff why they haven't had any in stock since Christmas- the factory in England that makes them caught fire.

Own brand Aldi choc digestives (Belmont Bisc co) in stock 49c. Not sure if same as previous as never tasted and have had too much rich food/drink to taste tonight!!:)

Thought I would let you know and look forward to comparisons to the much beloved previous Aldi version.

Banjo String

Lidl are selling big bags of natural (unsalted etc) unshelled nuts.

I buy the big bags of Brazil nuts for 2.99, which is pretty good value. They also have peanuts, cashews, walnuts etc.

Perfect if like me, your on a healthy eating plan.

Atlantic Dawn

Aldi handwash, think it's around €1.50

https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/product-range/health-beauty/aqua-v/abbott-broome-product-detail-page/ps/p/luxurious-handwash/

B0jangles

Banjo String wrote: »

Lidl are selling big bags of natural (unsalted etc) shelled nuts.

I buy the big bags of Brazil nuts for 2.99, which I'd pretty good value. They also have peanuts, cashews, walnuts.

Perfect if like me your on a healthy plan.

Also they have pecans for the same price/quantity.

snubbleste

prodsc wrote: »

Own brand Aldi choc digestives (Belmont Bisc co) in stock 49c....

Tried them.
They are different to the previous recipe - more crunchy, more burnt and more coarse & 22% chocolate. That's my opinion though. They are cheaper per 100g than the previous version too.