Aldi meat aisle horrors.

Aongus Von Bismarck

I’ve been back in Ireland for the past week, spending some quality time with my parents, and my niece and nephew. I’ve just about gotten over the huge disappointment of Galway’s lose to Limerick on Sunday. I was motoring back out from Galway this morning after an early morning hike in the 12 Bens, when I got a call from my Mother asking me to call into the local ADLI to pick up some pots of Play-Doh for my nephew (strange request, but I was very happy to oblige – I’m good like that). Turned the 6-Series around and headed back into town. Mart day today, so there were some serious specimens of muck savage around – men with beetroot red faces, tufts of hair growing on their upper cheeks, pants held up with baling twine, not a full set of teeth between 5 of them.

Now I live in Germany, but it’s safe to say I’m not a regular visitor to German discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl. They have a great business model, and are very popular, but I’m not their target audience as I’ve the disposable income to shop in more artisan and high-end stores. I’ve heard some of their produce can be quite good, but I’m a passionate and talented cook so I’d rather have the choice of more than one type of mushroom for example. Think the food hall in Fallon and Byrne for those of you familiar with the Dublin foodie scene.

I had intended to get in and out there as quickly as possible, but decided I’d have a browse of the products they offer. I was genuinely disgusted to see that you can buy a large chicken for €4. Who buys such a thing? How is it possible to house, feed, medicate, slaughter, package, and distribute a chicken to a supermarket for that price? And one has to presume that there’s profit being taken by the various stakeholders along this most depressing of supply chains. I can’t help but notice that there’s a big problem with Irishmen and ‘moobs’ these days. Surely some of it must be linked to the amount of hormones and growth promoters these chickens are being stuffed with during their short and tragic life?

The litany of food horrors continued – huge packs of sickly pink looking ham branded as ‘Family Value’, bags of chicken nuggets for €1.79, microwavable mashed potato (!!), blocks of heavily processed cheese for literally nothing, baked beans for 29 cent a can. Who eats this muck, and do they ever consider the impact it is having on their own bodies, and the bodies of their families? Probably the same people who then fill the rest of the trolley with bottles of cheap wine that you could use to strip paint from a trawler.

I picked up the Play-Doh from those middle rows they have and left. I was relieved to find that some fat tradesman in a van hadn’t scraped my Beamer despite parking dangerously close to it. I’ve been appalled since though at the idea of that flaccid looking ‘chicken’ wrapped in its clear plastic coffin.

Am I missing something here? Who is the audience for this? And surely they could push the boat out and buy a free-range bird for 7 or 8 euro instead? Maybe eat less, or be more creative with what they do with leftovers?

statto25

Jaysus he's back....

pickarooney

You're not wrong, Aongus, at some stage we're going to have to face up to what we've done with the meat industry and stop accepting the trash that passes for chicken.
That said, I wouldn't put Aldi Ireland anywhere near the top of supermarket offenders on that score.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Yeah not a lot of fresh produce on offer. You'd wonder what the hell we're putting into our bodies. Way too much processed food being consumed in this country.

brevity

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I’ve been back in Ireland for the past week, spending some quality time with my parents, and my niece and nephew. I’ve just about gotten over the huge disappointment of Galway’s lose to Limerick on Sunday.

BrokenArrows

Im assuming you're trolling.
If you're not then you come across as a a bit of a knob.

People buy it because not many can afford to spend £10 on an organic chicken or someother overpriced bull****.

Take your BMW and go back to Germany.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Certain diseases and ailments seemed to be less prevalent back in the days when this sh1t wasn't around.

goat2

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I’ve been back in Ireland for the past week, spending some quality time with my parents, and my niece and nephew. I’ve just about gotten over the huge disappointment of Galway’s lose to Limerick on Sunday. I was motoring back out from Galway this morning after an early morning hike in the 12 Bens, when I got a call from my Mother asking me to call into the local ADLI to pick up some pots of Play-Doh for my nephew (strange request, but I was very happy to oblige – I’m good like that). Turned the 6-Series around and headed back into town. Mart day today, so there were some serious specimens of muck savage around – men with beetroot red faces, tufts of hair growing on their upper cheeks, pants held up with baling twine, not a full set of teeth between 5 of them.

Now I live in Germany, but it’s safe to say I’m not a regular visitor to German discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl. They have a great business model, and are very popular, but I’m not their target audience as I’ve the disposable income to shop in more artisan and high-end stores. I’ve heard some of their produce can be quite good, but I’m a passionate and talented cook so I’d rather have the choice of more than one type of mushroom for example. Think the food hall in Fallon and Byrne for those of you familiar with the Dublin foodie scene.

I had intended to get in and out there as quickly as possible, but decided I’d have a browse of the products they offer. I was genuinely disgusted to see that you can buy a large chicken for €4. Who buys such a thing? How is it possible to house, feed, medicate, slaughter, package, and distribute a chicken to a supermarket for that price? And one has to presume that there’s profit being taken by the various stakeholders along this most depressing of supply chains. I can’t help but notice that there’s a big problem with Irishmen and ‘moobs’ these days. Surely some of it must be linked to the amount of hormones and growth promoters these chickens are being stuffed with during their short and tragic life?

The litany of food horrors continued – huge packs of sickly pink looking ham branded as ‘Family Value’, bags of chicken nuggets for €1.79, microwavable mashed potato (!!), blocks of heavily processed cheese for literally nothing, baked beans for 29 cent a can. Who eats this muck, and do they ever consider the impact it is having on their own bodies, and the bodies of their families? Probably the same people who then fill the rest of the trolley with bottles of cheap wine that you could use to strip paint from a trawler.

I picked up the Play-Doh from those middle rows they have and left. I was relieved to find that some fat tradesman in a van hadn’t scraped my Beamer despite parking dangerously close to it. I’ve been appalled since though at the idea of that flaccid looking ‘chicken’ wrapped in its clear plastic coffin.

Am I missing something here? Who is the audience for this? And surely they could push the boat out and buy a free-range bird for 7 or 8 euro instead? Maybe eat less, or be more creative with what they do with leftovers?

A great description and to the point,

Sirsok

You bought play- doh from aldi instead of an artisan toy maker ...you pleb ..... god I weep

Woke Hogan

People have conditioned themselves into thinking that 1) they need to eat meat every single day of the week and 2) they have an inalienable human right to have said meat sold as cheaply as possible. Ignorance and laziness, excused with the typical "how do you expect me to feed my family" bull****.

Here's a suggestion: buy a cookbook.

goat2

There is a whole difference between strawberries we buy at our local veg shop, to the ones we buy at Supervalu or Aldi, the local farmer shop strawberries have the strawberry flavour as well as looking like a strawberry, but Supervalu and Aldi strawberries just look like strawberries, without the taste

Rubberchikken

The original post is a bloody essay. No way am i reading that. Off to cut the hedge:P

Potential-Monke

Not-even-thinly-veiled 'I have money' post.

I find the meat and chicken from Aldi quite good for the price. Better than Tesco and Dunnes anyway. Their steak mince is really nice. Yeah, the prices do make me wonder, but shur we're going to die anyway, might as well make it cheap on the way there.

I've never had food poisoning or any other food related mishap from Aldi meat. Can't be that bad.

Kevin Finnerty

Play Doh from Aldi. Shillings must be tight.

Who put the petrol in the dad's "Beamer"?

The Backwards Man

This prodigal return reminds me of when they introduced Scrappy Doo.

All the charm and originality of the earlier series fcuked out the window for the sake of a few cheap laughs aimed at the lowest common denominator.

AllForIt

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I’ve heard some of their produce can be quite good, but I’m a passionate and talented cook so I’d rather have the choice of more than one type of mushroom for example.

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by a variety of mushrooms? Do you mean like big ones or small ones?

Treepole

Kevin Finnerty wrote: »

Play Doh from Aldi. Shillings must be tight.

Who put the petrol in the dad's "Beamer"?

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Play Doh from Aldi.
It tastes exactly the same as the free range stuff.

padd b1975

AllForIt wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but what do you mean by a variety of mushrooms? Do you mean like big ones or small ones?

How do you know the difference between mushrooms and toadstools?

If you're cooking with toadstools, everyone drops dead.

© Tommy Cooper RIP.

freshpopcorn

I'm from a farming background and town.
I know plenty of farmers who's happily buy their meat in Aldi or other supermarkets. Some supply them and others don't and they feel like they know what there getting.

meeeeh

Let me guess, somebody was reading Aldi thread in Food forum and decided to write a Ross O'Carroll Kelly about it.

con___manx1

The same crap u described happens in germany and every other country. Germany have a low unemployment rate but a high percentage are paid **** all. Plus it has 80 million people the place is jammed and they work the absolute bollix out of u in most jobs. There efficiency **** wrecks my head. Our it will be grand attitude suits me better.

Verity.

The Bollocks

Ask my bollocks. Go to a different shop or butchers if you dont like what you see in Aldi.

freshpopcorn

Angus one bit of advice I'd give you is if your ever in the market for an organic chicken I'd recommend keeping your own and slaughtering them. It's the only real way you can get the quality you want.

pickarooney

Rubberchikken wrote: »

The original post is a bloody essay. No way am i reading that. Off to cut the hedge:P

Pity, you're mentioned by name.

super_furry

TLDR - Poor people, why?

whisky_galore

OP slums it with the poors.

Ray Bloody Purchase

Let them eat cake Aldi chicken.

ted1

A foodie would not call poultry meat.

freshpopcorn

ted1 wrote: »

A foodie would not call poultry meat.

Neither would they look at chickens in Aldi!

papu

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Certain diseases and ailments seemed to be less prevalent back in the days when this sh1t wasn't around.

Nothing to do with better detection methods no?

White Clover

I have Lambs for sale from my farm, absolute quality. Pm if anyone wants one. Very reasonable price!

jmayo

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I’ve been back in Ireland for the past week, spending some quality time with my parents, and my niece and nephew. I’ve just about gotten over the huge disappointment of Galway’s lose to Limerick on Sunday. I was motoring back out from Galway this morning after an early morning hike in the 12 Bens, when I got a call from my Mother asking me to call into the local ADLI to pick up some pots of Play-Doh for my nephew (strange request, but I was very happy to oblige – I’m good like that). Turned the 6-Series around and headed back into town. Mart day today, so there were some serious specimens of muck savage around – men with beetroot red faces, tufts of hair growing on their upper cheeks, pants held up with baling twine, not a full set of teeth between 5 of them.

But I bet they weren't full of sh**, now were they.

BTW I thought Mart day in your neck of the woods was Thursday not Friday ?

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

Now I live in Germany, but it’s safe to say I’m not a regular visitor to German discount supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl. They have a great business model, and are very popular, but I’m not their target audience as I’ve the disposable income to shop in more artisan and high-end stores. I’ve heard some of their produce can be quite good, but I’m a passionate and talented cook so I’d rather have the choice of more than one type of mushroom for example. Think the food hall in Fallon and Byrne for those of you familiar with the Dublin foodie scene.

I had intended to get in and out there as quickly as possible, but decided I’d have a browse of the products they offer. I was genuinely disgusted to see that you can buy a large chicken for €4. Who buys such a thing? How is it possible to house, feed, medicate, slaughter, package, and distribute a chicken to a supermarket for that price? And one has to presume that there’s profit being taken by the various stakeholders along this most depressing of supply chains. I can’t help but notice that there’s a big problem with Irishmen and ‘moobs’ these days. Surely some of it must be linked to the amount of hormones and growth promoters these chickens are being stuffed with during their short and tragic life?

But surely it is better to just have moobs than be a complete T I T ?

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

The litany of food horrors continued – huge packs of sickly pink looking ham branded as ‘Family Value’, bags of chicken nuggets for €1.79, microwavable mashed potato (!!), blocks of heavily processed cheese for literally nothing, baked beans for 29 cent a can. Who eats this muck, and do they ever consider the impact it is having on their own bodies, and the bodies of their families? Probably the same people who then fill the rest of the trolley with bottles of cheap wine that you could use to strip paint from a trawler.

BTW when you were growing up in Galway did you always buy your food in the likes of McCambridge’s ?

Also you use that wine to run the trawler not take the paint off.
Jaysus have they taught you nothing over there in Germany.

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I picked up the Play-Doh from those middle rows they have and left. I was relieved to find that some fat tradesman in a van hadn’t scraped my Beamer despite parking dangerously close to it. I’ve been appalled since though at the idea of that flaccid looking ‘chicken’ wrapped in its clear plastic coffin.

Ah now be fair, he would only have done that if he actually knew it was your car.

Also for someone that was only there for as short a time as possible you do seem to remember a fair few itemised prices.

Ah but shure what am I sayin, it must be your superior trained financial brain at work.

meeeeh

White Clover wrote: »

I have Lambs for sale from my farm, absolute quality. Pm if anyone wants one. Very reasonable price.

Did they fall of the truck?

JohnnyFlash

jmayo wrote: »

But I bet they weren't full of sh**, now were they.

BTW I thought Mart day in your neck of the woods was Thursday not Friday ?



But surely it is better to just have moobs than be a complete T I T ?



BTW when you were growing up in Galway did you always buy your food in the likes of McCambridge’s ?

Also you use that wine to run the trawler not take the paint off.
Jaysus have they taught you nothing over there in Germany.



Ah now be fair, he would only have done that if he actually knew it was your car.

Also for someone that was only there for as short a time as possible you do seem to remember a fair few itemised prices.

Ah but shure what am I sayin, it must be your superior trained financial brain at work.

Relax dude. Maybe try some of that mindfulness stuff young Aongus does be on about?? Or go and choke the chicken?

ohnonotgmail

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Relax dude. Maybe try some of that mindfulness stuff young Aongus does be on about?? Or go and choke the chicken?

An aldi one or one of those freerange ones?

gerrybbadd

The Bollocks wrote: »

Ask my bollocks. Go to a different shop or butchers if you dont like what you see in Aldi.

Username checks out

JohnnyFlash

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

An aldi one or one of those freerange ones?

An extra small one anyway I’d say.

Ray Bloody Purchase

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Relax dude. Maybe try some of that mindfulness stuff young Aongus does be on about?? Or go and choke the chicken?

That guy needs to 'chill out.'

jester77

con___manx1 wrote: »

The same crap u described happens in germany and every other country. Germany have a low unemployment rate but a high percentage are paid **** all. Plus it has 80 million people the place is jammed and they work the absolute bollix out of u in most jobs. There efficiency **** wrecks my head. Our it will be grand attitude suits me better.

Most of what you say is true, but they don't work the bollix out of you. It's actually much better than in Ireland. Sunday is sacred, no shops are open so that everyone can have family time. 30 days is the standard minimum vacation time in most jobs and family is given a high priority. Childcare is a fraction of what it costs in Ireland. Plus that stereotype of German efficiency is a thing of the past, but they are still a lot more efficient than most nations.

Regarding food, Germany are one of the worst for crap quality, especially when it comes to fruit and vegetables. Due to the lower wages and higher taxes compared to somewhere like Ireland, the Germans are not willing to pay for good produce. Fruit and vegetables have a standard rating and Germany takes in the lowest rating, it's actually quite hard to find good produce. Local markets and Turkish supermarkets are some of the few places where you can find quality, the supermarkets are mainly crap.

White Clover

meeeeh wrote: »

Did they fall of the truck?

They fell out of the ewes!

ToddyDoody

Rubberchikken wrote: »

The original post is a bloody essay. No way am i reading that. Off to cut the hedge:P

It's about chikken co-incidentally.

Also, Aongus is better than you.

I'll be spending the next 20 minutes searching previous posts.

fineso.mom

'..... blocks of heavily processed cheese for literally nothing....'
See, this is the problem with pretending to know stuff Aonghas. People who actually know stuff will come along and call you out. Safer to say nothing and risk people thinking you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Unless of course Aldi were in fact giving away the cheese for nothing ?

Are Am Eye

Good post but a continuity error should be removed in the final cut.

Having never been in a german discount before.....
"I picked up the Play-Doh from those middle rows they have"

ART6

So there are the El-cheapo food retailers like Aldi and Lidl, and the up-market ones that offer chickens and meat of a much higher quality. All of them seem to insist that their products are "genuine Irish" or even "Genuine organic." But from where do they source those products? To the best of my knowledge none of them operate farms across Ireland, and all of the meat and veg they offer is "organic" as are all chickens and Brussels sprouts. There is no such thing as an inorganic chicken other than that the "organic" one commands a higher price.


In fact they all buy their meat products from the few major slaughterhouses which, in turn, buy from a whole number of farmers. I struggle to believe that Aldi or Lidl or Tesco could have any idea from where a particular chicken carcass came when they probably order thousands of them a month. Then, when they put them on their shelves, they advertise them and price them at the level that their individual market will bear. If their perceived market is discerning people who are prepared to pay more then the "organic" chicken will cost €7 or more. In Aldi or Lidl, targeting a less discerning market but one where money is important and the shopper doesn't own a Mercedes, the chicken will be offered at €5.

But it's the same bloody chicken from the same processor!

McTigs

I'm just glad he didn't call it a 6-Serious

_Brian

Irish reared chicken and all farm animals are free from hormones and growth promotors - it’s a fact, it’s monitored closely, traceable and the implications for a farmer are huge if there’s any messing going on.

Now, I agree the chicken is too cheap, as are most meats but farmers are price takers, they have no option one s an animal is ready to go but take what you get. Holding back animals often results in penalties for age or fatness, plus it costs to hold them in a factory ready state.

You can buy decent free range chicken for a bit more and there’s more substance to them.

Overall Aldi meats are high quality and plenty of Irish reared options in the fresh meat, frozen stuff is more of a grey area.

leonffrench

Gowan outta that

Giraffe Box

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I’ve been back in Ireland...
... but I’m a passionate and talented cook




.....

Passionate and talented in the kitchen.......and in the bed too I'm sure.

Either genius troll or absolute fúcking knob of the highest order!

ceadaoin.

Visiting from Germany but still driving your own beamer? Ship it over for the trip do you?

KevinCavan

It’s hardly your own Beamer if ur just visiting Ireland.