Are Lidl/Aldi doomed once the recession is over?

brooke 2

former legend wrote: »

But this is exactly the reason why I feel Aldi and Lidl are getting away with murder in their claims; you're not comparing like with like.

I'm a muesli-eater as well and Tesco own-brand is very good and is exactly the same price, €1.99, so the actual saving between Tesco and Lidl is precisely zero.

(Of course you could argue that the presence of Lidl in the market has forced others to reduce their prices, but that's another day's work)

I have never done my shopping in Tesco. Buying my muesli in Lidl as opposed to
SuperValue/Dunne's leaves me with a lot more money in my pocket.

In pre Lidl days, I had the experience of seeing the same Life Force muesli on sale
at two different prices - in the same store!! The dearer one was in the health food
section!! I was so incensed at this that I made a complaint to the manager in Dunne's
of Portmarnock!

EunanMac

MugMugs wrote: »

We all grew up in Society of "St Bernards finest" when it came to clothes.

My folks couldn't afford to dress us in Nike and Addidas.

Who on earth was, back in the day ?

L1011

brooke 2 wrote: »

In pre Lidl days, I had the experience of seeing the same Life Force muesli on sale
at two different prices - in the same store!! The dearer one was in the health food
section!! I was so incensed at this that I made a complaint to the manager in Dunne's
of Portmarnock!

It would have to be two different (in some way) products for that to work - one barcode would scan at the same price regardless of where it was picked up.

therealme

I tried them but just don't like them.

I stick to local butcher/veg shop/artisan shop - buy in season and it's not expensive.

I'll never be converted to them. Not a Tesco fan either.

lapua20grain

i shop in Tesco personally i don't like aldi or lidl food neither does my wife or son i think the quality is poor i suppose you get what you pay for. i buy my fruit and veg and dry goods in Tesco I buy my meat in the butchers up the road i cook everything from base so i like the ingredients i get in tesco. i have the money so i shop where i like.

monkeysnapper

I was in tesco last week , the dam place is so large I got lost in there, i M only just out now , in aldi its small, it has everything you need, and they get you out the door in seconds .

chimmy chonga

I was parked in an Aldi car park in Blessington Co wicklow last week, waiting on the better half to finish shopping and I noticed that parked on one side of me was a Porsche Cayenne and on the other side a Q7 Audi both were 131's. Come to think of it my 05 Golf was probably the oldest car in the carpark. I think generally people just don't like to be ripped- off. The guy who owns the Super-Valu up the road drives a Bentley - say no more...

Geuze

EmilyHoward wrote: »

2) more space in the areas behind the checkout for your groceries, at times it can feel like they are practically throwing the shopping at you.

You are meant to use the shelf along the window to pack.

dashcamdanny

Im a Tesco, Supervalu and local butcher customer. If you pick and choose , use the promotions wisly and plan meals you can get a good deal. Plus they have a much better selection .

I do go to Aldi the odd time for a look at all that non food stuff, but the family does not like the rip off cheap food brands. Regardless of the hype, branded food is much better in my opinion. Plus the lines to pay at the check out are just ridicules.

Dont ever buy the Aldi's chicken Kievs. They will put you off chicken forever. Chicken is like jelly and the garlic butter inside tastes like chemicals.

L1011

dashcamdanny wrote: »

Regardless of the hype, branded food is much better in my opinion.

Even though in many cases, its the same product on the same production line and they just alternate what sticker goes on the pack at the end.

Time for you to do some blind tests I think.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I just find that I can't get my full shop in Lidl or Aldi and value my time and fuel as much as their few savings, so I shop in Dunne's where I can get all the groceries I need. Meat and veg are certainly superior with my independent butcher and greengrocer. I know many say lidl/aldi brands are as good bit I have to say I disagree. Lidl are my choice for biscuits and aldi for flowers but that's about it. I personally don't mind shopping, and possibly paying more, elsewhere when I can get what I want and like what I get. That said, I don't think those who have switched to these stores will change their shopping patterns as the recession ends.

Chimichangas

lol, always shop around to be sure you are not getting ripped off.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Chimichangas wrote: »

lol, always shop around to be sure you are not getting ripped off.

Ripped off is a bit strong, as I do not consider that I have been exploited, swindled, cheated, nor defrauded. I shop where I choose to shop. I shop where I can get what I want. I'll not repeat all I have already said but I can assure you I get sufficient value (and value is about more than just cost) by shopping as I do. If Aldi or Lidl had what I wanted I'd probably shop there even if they were a bit more expensive. But look, shopping is a personal thing.

jaymcg91

Gia Salty Shade wrote: »

Ripped off is a bit strong, as I do not consider that I have been exploited, swindled, cheated, nor defrauded. I shop where I choose to shop. I shop where I can get what I want. I'll not repeat all I have already said but I can assure you I get sufficient value (and value is about more than just cost) by shopping as I do. If Aldi or Lidl had what I wanted I'd probably shop there even if they were a bit more expensive. But look, shopping is a personal thing.

I agree. I like what I like, and Aldi / Lidl don't provide it. I'm delighted that other people can get what they need there and save money.

I actually like having different brands (that I've heard of) and choices when shopping. That's just how I feel. I don't feel the need to lecture other people about my personal preferences like a couple of people on this thread seem to like doing.

You are right, shopping is a personal thing.

hoodwinked

MYOB wrote: »

Even though in many cases, its the same product on the same production line and they just alternate what sticker goes on the pack at the end.

Time for you to do some blind tests I think.

honestly that is bull, we did blind taste tests in economics in College and i got every single one right, at the careers fair pepsi were doing taste tests on pepsi and cola (and crisps they had with them) and i got each one spot on, the woman was amazed i could taste the differences as she said most people who did them that said they were good at them failed them.

i have hyperactive taste and smell sensors it would seem and i CAN taste the difference,

i can tell you now that maybe just maybe the tesco branded weetabix is the exact same line as the aldi weetabix but i can tell you they both taste ****e and nothing like official weetabix, in saying that Tesco stock a version of weetabix that is cheaper than the tesco brand and it tastes the same as the official brand,

so imo you may get two (or more) brands from the same line (that all taste horrible) but you also get the same product from a different line that tastes good

some people just have rubbish taste buds and genuinely can't taste the difference, its how those frozen crispy pancakes and frozen mini pizzas lasted so long in the market until they were proven not to be "healthy" and people stopped buying them for that reason,

lapua20grain

Aldi and Lidl will always have a place as much as Tesco, Dunnes and supervalu the whole way that people shop has changed not just in Ireland but Uk also, the days of the big shop weekly has gone as people budget and shop more regularly during the week. the big 3 Tesco,Dunnes and supervalu will get customers back when the economy picks up as people will once again start to buy branded goods when their disposable income increases.

L1011

hoodwinked wrote: »

honestly that is bull, we did blind taste tests in economics in College and i got every single one right, at the careers fair pepsi were doing taste tests on pepsi and cola (and crisps they had with them) and i got each one spot on, the woman was amazed i could taste the differences as she said most people who did them that said they were good at them failed them.

Pepsi and Coke do taste different, though. As they're different products with different recipes.

When it comes to other products it is EXTREMELY common for the brand to also manufacture multiple white-label products to exactly the same standards. So no, its not "bull" as you claim, with your single example. I'm beginning to think your username is very, very accurate.

hoodwinked wrote: »

some people just have rubbish taste buds and genuinely can't taste the difference

And some people are incredible brand snobs and pretend there's a difference.

jill_valentine

I don't shop in Lidl and Aldi for savings as much as I do for their range of products, which has improved and diversified over time. I'll pick up interchangeable staples like bread, milk, pasta etc when I'm in there picking up the stuff they do which doesn't have a Tesco etc counterpart.

That, I think, is what will keep them going once we're free and clear of recession mentality. Aldi in particular have been gradually moving away from the "discount store" marketing, and lot of their products now stand quite happily on their own terms, rather than as substitutes for something else.

goz83

Shopping in Lidl/Aldi used to be akin to having headlice. If you had them, you told nobody. I preferred when people were afraid of being seen shopping in da germans store, because the queues were shorter back then.

Lidl and Aldi are here to stay.

dashcamdanny

MYOB wrote: »

Even though in many cases, its the same product on the same production line and they just alternate what sticker goes on the pack at the end.

Time for you to do some blind tests I think.

Are you telling me that the items I picked in Aldi are the exact same as branded goods in a different label. Because if you are, I would say you are talking through your arse.

There is a very distinct difference in taste. From the kids chocolate breakfast cereal I picked , to the biscuits I selected. Completely different taste and very obviously came from a different place.

But if you would like to list the exact products that you are referring to, I would be happy to check them out. I'm guessing its going to but generic stuff like Milk be go ahead anyway.

You should have access to the list I would think. You sound like you work there in sales from most of your posts.

Please be exact in your list. So I we know exactly what to go to Aldi and buy instead of the brand things I like.

L1011

dashcamdanny wrote: »

You sound like you work there in sales from most of your posts.

Nope.

There is no exact list, and I didn't say the exact products you bought were - just that a huge number of branded products are the exact same as the white label products; and that is is utterly foolish to have a "brand is better" attitude. You deserve to get gouged if you have that attitude. Getting sucked in by marketing and advertising spin is nothing to be proud of despite the displays of that on this thread.

hoodwinked

MYOB wrote: »

Pepsi and Coke do taste different, though. As they're different products with different recipes.

When it comes to other products it is EXTREMELY common for the brand to also manufacture multiple white-label products to exactly the same standards. So no, its not "bull" as you claim, with your single example. I'm beginning to think your username is very, very accurate.

it wasn't pepsi and coke, it was pepsi and a cola which was obviously trying to emulate pepsi,

and i was calling bull on your implication that the aldi brands were branded (tasty) products repackaged, it is common for the branded products to be hired to manufacture for other labels, but i can tell you aldi's are not it, in fact it's usually (taking for example one cheese factory i am very familiar with), the "white label" ones are for the likes of supervalu/centra....etc not aldi/lidl.

you can confirm this if you were to buy a branded cheese block and taste test it with supervalu's own brand, and an aldi brand, the aldi one would stand out a mile. for the record i have taste tested and cooked tested the aldi mozzarella compared to the tesco brand mozzarella and the tesco brand was more like the real (branded) one i got from said cheese factory years ago when cooked, where as the aldi one did not have the right texture/taste. ergo i buy the cheap tesco one (which is cheaper than aldi's too, and has more in the bag than aldi's so double bang for your buck) before you think i am a brand snob again.

MYOB wrote: »

And some people are incredible brand snobs and pretend there's a difference.

if you read the appropriate sentence in my previous post where i said there is a weetabix 'cheap knockoff' brand that is cheaper than the tesco brand that tastes the same as the "official" brand,

how does that make me a brand snob pretending there is a difference? my point is the tesco/aldi brands can taste awful depending on the product, the official/cheapest brand taste the same, very clearly two different lines of weetabix lines in this case so they arent just "changing the labels in the factory". so obviously if people cannot taste the difference the problem is with their taste buds and nothing to do with the brand snobbery!

MYOB wrote: »

Nope.

There is no exact list, and I didn't say the exact products you bought were - just that a huge number of branded products are the exact same as the white label products; and that is is utterly foolish to have a "brand is better" attitude. You deserve to get gouged if you have that attitude. Getting sucked in by marketing and advertising spin is nothing to be proud of despite the displays of that on this thread.

i gave you exact products above, i would invite you to try them and taste the difference and people would quickly realise, while aldi's milky ways taste as good as the real thing, their cheese's/weetabix do not at all come close,

people may be settling for cost reasons, or apparent savings, or because their particular taste buds prefer the tones of the aldi brand foods, but at the end of the day there are those of us who can and do taste the difference and will continue to shop where we can buy the foods that suit our taste tones, and it doesn't make us brand snobs or victims to "marketing"

as i think i've shown i am more a taste it and see if i like it, i'll buy what i like the taste of regardless of the brand. hence my more thrifty shopping methods in brand stores.

dudara

hoodwinked wrote: »

some people just have rubbish taste buds and genuinely can't taste the difference, its how those frozen crispy pancakes and frozen mini pizzas lasted so long in the market until they were proven not to be "healthy" and people stopped buying them for that reason,

Mmm... Frozen crispy pancakes. Love those things. (Sorry, couldn't resist). I think it was obvious from the start that they weren't healthy, but people just like them. They're still for sale too IIRC.

On a more serious note, I would remind posters to stay polite & civil to each other.

dudara

hoodwinked

dudara wrote: »

Mmm... Frozen crispy pancakes. Love those things. (Sorry, couldn't resist).

i think almost every child in ireland had those as a "favorite dinner" when they were younger!

just think though if your parents only shopped at lidl or aldi, you'd never have had them? :eek:

for the record too, both my 5 year old and i were super delighted when a world cup beanie ball popped out into her cereal bowl while having coco pops one morning this summer just gone, reminded my husband and i of all the goodies kellogs used to have siblings fighting over, (like the bike reflectors)


little things like that make moments in your childhood fun and make memories that you also don't get with the non branded cereals, things we would have missed out on if our parents shopped in aldi or lidl.

Johngoose

I think that the stigma of shopping in those stores is gone.If anything it has become fashionable to be tight,regarding grocery shopping.I don't think that will change overnight.You mentioned m&s,I'd consider them the Brown Thomas of the grocery chains.

dudara

hoodwinked wrote: »

i think almost every child in ireland had those as a "favorite dinner" when they were younger!

just think though if your parents only shopped at lidl or aldi, you'd never have had them? :eek:

Actually I never had them as a kid. I grew up on a farm and my mother bought very little processed food. She wasn't trying to be healthy or the like (this was the 80s after all). It was just the way she cooked and the way my grandmother cooked. I only properly discovered the amazing world of cheap processed food when I went to college.

Now that Aldi & Lidl are both after opening up at home, my mother shops there a lot now. She likes the fact that Aldi source a lot of Irish food, particularly as we have some suppliers in our area. So if Aldi can convince my mother, they've done a good job.

Johngoose

lapua20grain wrote: »

i shop in Tesco personally i don't like aldi or lidl food neither does my wife or son i think the quality is poor i suppose you get what you pay for. i buy my fruit and veg and dry goods in Tesco I buy my meat in the butchers up the road i cook everything from base so i like the ingredients i get in tesco. i have the money so i shop where i like.

Surely the fruit in Aldi and Lidl is the same quality as in the other stores.

jill_valentine

dudara wrote: »

Mmm... Frozen crispy pancakes. Love those things. (Sorry, couldn't resist). I think it was obvious from the start that they weren't healthy, but people just like them. They're still for sale too IIRC.

On a more serious note, I would remind posters to stay polite & civil to each other.

dudara

Wait, wait - did you just have to come back and edit in a mod note, once you were done reminiscing over the pancakes?

hoodwinked

dudara wrote: »

Actually I never had them as a kid. I grew up on a farm and my mother bought very little processed food. She wasn't trying to be healthy or the like (this was the 80s after all). It was just the way she cooked and the way my grandmother cooked. I only properly discovered the amazing world of cheap processed food when I went to college.

Now that Aldi & Lidl are both after opening up at home, my mother shops there a lot now. She likes the fact that Aldi source a lot of Irish food, particularly as we have some suppliers in our area. So if Aldi can convince my mother, they've done a good job.

you are why i said almost every child, but still my point is there are positives to both types of shops, and people are saying both brands taste the same when they don't is wrong imo, there is a difference, i might add i am not against lidl or aldi (although i agree my posts do come across as such) their fruit and veg are fresher imo than supervalu...etc i just find there is no point in us driving all the way to aldi to pick up a bag of apples for 30cent when supervalu/tesco are selling them for 39cent (example prices only, probably not accurate but just to show my thinking process)


will aldi and lidl be doomed after the recession? no. but then people predicted tesco/supervalu/M&S would shut down in the recession and they haven't,

i think aldi and lidl will be scaled back when people have the money to go back to buying things they once loved, be it Liga or Kellogs cereals or campbells soups, or knorr sauces, or cadbury's chocolate other brands they used love.

Mary63

The Aldi weetabix is vile and most of their cereals are very sweet.It is also a very soulless shopping experience,all those cardboard boxes piled high and surly staff.I hate the way they fire the stuff through instead of pausing and helping the customer pack,its those touches that put me off.The last time I was in aldi the rude young man wanted to go on his break,he rushed the stuff through so fast it was falling off the conveyer belt,the poor woman was picking it up off the ground and more stuff was landing on her head,your man just kept going and when she had finally packed everything and paid he snapped the till shut and walked off and left a queue of people standing there.

I prefer to buy stuff in small quantities too and in these discounters you have to buy a whole packet of ahm etc,the other supermarkets will slice it for you,not everyone wants bags of apples,grapefruit etc,I would like to buy just one or two.I did notice in Dunnes the last time I was in that I had to buy a bag of red onions and three garlic in a pack,you used to be able to buy one or two onions and weigh them and buy one bulb of garlic.I hope the big supermarkets dont follow aldi and lidl with this wastage or small households.

I bought milk in lidl recently and it was in date.I took a mouthful and it wasnt just gone off,the taste was indescribable,never again.I read somewhere recently that it is really cheap poor quality milk,I would never buy it again.
I suppose its personal choice and income,Marks is way ahead interms of quality,their fruit and bread in particular are lovely and also the cut flowers.The aldi cut flowers used to be very good but the quality is not as nice now and they are the same price there as most supermarkets.