Lidl/Aldi brands v names brands

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 1:18am

A while back I was praising Aldi's McGrath's Teabags but now I have to change my mind.

I used to always drink Lyons, then switched to McGrath's and have been drinking them for months now.

But at the back of my mind I was aware that they didn't really make a good strong cup, no matter how long I left the teabag in.
Today I was given a box of Lyons teabags by a neighbour who only drinks Barry's.

Had two cups of Lyons' and by God, the difference.
Don't know if my tongue's been numbed by the Aldi tea or what, but I enjoyed the Lyons' tea much more and I'm afraid I'm going to have to switch back!

Sorry Aldi, it was nice while it lasted but me loves me tea!

Gloomtastic! · 29-03-2013 1:23am

fussyonion wrote: »

A while back I was praising Aldi's McGrath's Teabags but now I have to change my mind.

I used to always drink Lyons, then switched to McGrath's and have been drinking them for months now.

But at the back of my mind I was aware that they didn't really make a good strong cup, no matter how long I left the teabag in.
Today I was given a box of Lyons teabags by a neighbour who only drinks Barry's.

Had two cups of Lyons' and by God, the difference.
Don't know if my tongue's been numbed by the Aldi tea or what, but I enjoyed the Lyons' tea much more and I'm afraid I'm going to have to switch back!

Sorry Aldi, it was nice while it lasted but me loves me tea!

Try Fallons tea bags from Lidl. They're excellent!

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 1:26am

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Try Fallons tea bags from Lidl. They're excellent!

Fallons? And Aldi sell them?
I'm willing to give them a go, once they can make a nice strong cup!

LMAO sorry totally misread..You said Lidl...Duh!

efb · 29-03-2013 1:27am

Fallon's Gold Blend are the daddy

Lady Chatterton · 29-03-2013 1:27am

Aldi's Corale Baked Beans taste great, I think they taste way better than Heinz or Bachelors.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 1:29am

MrsD007 wrote: »

Aldi's Corale Baked Beans taste great, I think they taste way better than Heinz or Bachelors.

Now see I tried those cos I thought they'd be lovely but I found them a bit sweet?
I might try them again and give them another chance, but I'm not really a huge beans eater anyway.

jill_valentine · 29-03-2013 1:31am

fussyonion wrote: »

Aldi must have changed the supplier of their packaged minced beef because in the past I used to buy it and it was lovely and lean, but lately it's been stringy and worm-like. Hency why I switched to butcher mince.

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but... one of the distinctive features of horse meat is that it's a far leaner than beef.

Just a thought like.

Lady Chatterton · 29-03-2013 1:33am

fussyonion wrote: »

I'm not really a huge beans eater anyway.

I'm not either but sometimes the body needs some beans on toast and a big pot of tea - simple but effective comfort food when you're feeling a little hungover

.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 1:35am

jill_valentine wrote: »

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but... one of the distinctive features of horse meat is that it's a far leaner than beef.

Just a thought like.

You're probably right but I won't want to eat horse meat and because I like minced beef, I am looking for the leanest variety, for personal preference but also for health reasons-have to watch the fat content.

I also think that fattier mince is probably much tastier, but I can't go down that road.

EoghanIRL · 29-03-2013 1:35am

Aldi popcorn is really nice. Also biscuits in lidl are super cheap and way nicer.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 1:38am

EoghanIRL wrote: »

Aldi popcorn is really nice. Also biscuits in lidl are super cheap and way nicer.

+1 for the popcorn. Not a popcorn fan myself but the OH is and used to only eat Manhattan, but he's converted now.

I was in Aldi today and was thrilled to see they're selling Boil in the Bag rice.
That was one thing I used to always have to get in Tesco and it pained me because it's quite expensive.

Haven't tried Aldi's one yet, but it was only 99c for 4 bags AND each bag serves two, as opposed to the Uncle Ben's Boil in the Bag which is one bag per person.
I'll report back at the weekend with my verdict as I'll be doing a curry (which I'll also put up as a pic in the Cooking Club too)

Get Real · 29-03-2013 1:39am

sorry if it's alraedy been mentioned, but i swear by DEL RIVO orange juice at Aldi. The packaging and all is very similar to Tropicana. And it's not from concentrate, it's ingredients are just squeezed oranges. E1.45 for a litre bottle vs 2-3 euro for a litre of branded orange juice.

Also, goodfellas pizzas are anywhere from E3-7, (7 for a meag loaded one) and aldi have pizzas that taste imo much much better for E1.50!! Same size, same calorie, salt content etc. Much much cheaper and no worse for you.

And now weissebeer springs to mind too. A good german beer, Paulaner, retails in eurospar for E2.09 for 500ml. Aldi have 500ml of the same type of beer for 1.45. Cant remember the brand name, but its high quality and regarded as a "premium" beer in Germany as I saw it alot while in Berlin.

marko_polo1234 · 29-03-2013 1:39am

I used to work in mushroom production and I found that the mushrooms sold in supermarkets more less all come from the same producers! In other words lidl mushrooms are the exact same as M&S mushrooms but are only packaged differently to suit the supermarkets brands.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 1:46am

Get Real wrote: »

sorry if it's alraedy been mentioned, but i swear by DEL RIVO orange juice at Aldi. The packaging and all is very similar to Tropicana. And it's not from concentrate, it's ingredients are just squeezed oranges. E1.45 for a litre bottle vs 2-3 euro for a litre of branded orange juice.

Also, goodfellas pizzas are anywhere from E3-7, (7 for a meag loaded one) and aldi have pizzas that taste imo much much better for E1.50!! Same size, same calorie, salt content etc. Much much cheaper and no worse for you.

And now weissebeer springs to mind too. A good german beer, Paulaner, retails in eurospar for E2.09 for 500ml. Aldi have 500ml of the same type of beer for 1.45. Cant remember the brand name, but its high quality and regarded as a "premium" beer in Germany as I saw it alot while in Berlin.

Yep agree, lovely juice.
I've also tried Aldi's pizzas and they're delicious, especially their chilled ones.

rosie16 · 29-03-2013 1:51am

I think some things are better in lidl than aldi and visa versa I prefer the lidl canned tuna. I think its d tasiest out of any shops Dont get the centra own brand- it's horrific I'm not fussy I'll eat anything but I couldnt eat that Aldi have better selection of sliced cheese gouda, masdam, etc and pizza (nicer too) Cheap youghurt for 49c in alidi hits the spot Prefer the cheap cocopops for 1.99 in lidl Better value too for a 500g pack. 29c for a can of baked beans in lidl- v nice Can't go wrong for a euro for a kg of frozen peas in aldi or a 100g bar of chocolate for 69c Wraps are good in aldi Tried the cheapest jar of tomato sauce in aldi- wasnt great Aldi have a nice selection of salads too And lidl has a bakery Own brand ice creams are really nice in both Speaking of ice cream the cadbury buttons cones are amazing, 5 for 3 euro :O So each shop has something a bit different/ going for it

Some things that I forget, recently bought a pack of ramero peppers in lidl. They're expensive for 1.89 for 2 but it's worth it. Sweet and can chop them in cool shapes. Got them in aldi too, not as sweet but still nice. Guess there is some variation. I like the fishfingers in both, I think lidl sometimes have them on offer, 2 for 2.50 Usually 1.5 or 2 each Prefer the noodles in lidl for 20c And the fair trade orange juice in lidl is the best. About 1.49 for a litre and its sometimes on offer for a euro .... I think it's in aldi where they have fair trade sugar, v cheap too under a euro something like 85 or 75c

username123 · 29-03-2013 2:03pm

fussyonion wrote: »

as opposed to the Uncle Ben's Boil in the Bag which is one bag per person.
I'll report back at the weekend with my verdict as I'll be doing a curry (which I'll also put up as a pic in the Cooking Club too)

Eh, uncle bens is actually one 125g bag for 2 people unless you get the single serving one.

What weight is the aldi bag? Do report back, is it only white rice?

mickser42 · 29-03-2013 2:09pm

Been shopping in mostly Aldi and sometimes Lidl since they came here and mostly the quality is excellent.
I find Aldi has improved a lot over the last couple of years and use a lot of irish products.
one thing I think is not great are the packets of sauce mix like curry parsley pepper always think they lack a bit of flavour and much the same for casserole mixes etc....

other than that its brill

Howjoe1 · 29-03-2013 2:19pm

Find Aldi very good for some products.

But I recently bought The Northern Rock Frozen CHUNKY Battered Cod. Looked great on the box. Turn out to be pieces of batter with the skimpiest white "fish" inside. Truly awful. Ended up in the bin.

DoozerT6 · 29-03-2013 2:30pm

I find Lidl washing-up liquid very good. But the laundry powder didn't cut the mustard IMO. I went back to Daz for that.

Love the yogurts in both shops, I'm not a cheese eater but I hear the cheeses are equally comparable to branded ones, also LOVE their little gingerbready cakey things at Christmas!

I bought the McEnnedy cinnamon and raisin bagels once. Never again. Tough, dry and cardboard like.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 2:37pm

username123 wrote: »

Eh, uncle bens is actually one 125g bag for 2 people unless you get the single serving one.

What weight is the aldi bag? Do report back, is it only white rice?

Yes the Aldi boil in the bags are 125g.
The Uncle Ben's boil in the bags are 62.5g.
This is the Uncle Ben's I normally buy:

https://unclebens.co.uk/assets/images/products/rice/boil-in-the-bag/T1396-UB-BIB-Long-grain23B44.png

So one bag of Aldi's will serve 2. 99c for a box of 4.
Didn't see any brown rice.

snubbleste · 29-03-2013 2:43pm

Lidl boil in the bag rice 8x125g for €1.95/kg has been around for a long time, marginally cheaper than Aldi :cool:
It's cheaper to get the big bag of rice at €1.19/kg

snubbleste · 29-03-2013 2:44pm

snubbleste wrote: »

Lidl are introducing a new entry-level range in the UK. This is similar to Aldi's everyday essentials range.
Has anyone seen Lidl's Simply in store http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/companies/discounters/lidl/lidl-trials-budget-line-under-simply-name/237058.article

Has anyone seen these in Lidl Ireland?

Lady Chatterton · 29-03-2013 2:51pm

Here is a list of some of the Irish companies that supply Lidl and Aldi

Aldi

Over 45% of all grocery sales at Aldi are generated on products bought from Irish suppliers, producers and manufacturers.
Bewleys / Robert Roberts – all coffees and teas
Natures Isle – fresh poultry, Irish Angus beef, pork, lamb, all sourced from RoI farms and Bord Bia certified.
Irish Yogurts / Town of Monaghan Co-op / the Different Dairy Company – yogurts
Odlums – flour

Lidl

Lidl say they are “committed to using as many indigenous suppliers as possible in the production of its own brand products.”
Pat the Baker - granary bread and scones
Johnston Mooney & O Brien - hot dog rolls and burger buns
Olhausen – Premium pork sausages
Irish Yogurts (Clonakilty) – Premium yogurts
Town of Monaghan – Irish creamery butter
Liffey Meats (Cavan) – fresh beef
Cooley Distillery – whiskey
Oakpark Foods (Tipperary) – Glensallagh streaky bacon
Donegal Creameries – 1 litre milk carton
Seerys (Carlow)– triple chocolate cake and luxury lemon cake
Glenpatrick – Flavoured water
Begleys (Dublin) – fresh fruit and veg
The Scullery – relish (small supplier, relishes developed with Lidl)

Honey-ec · 29-03-2013 3:49pm

MrsD007 wrote: »

Here is a list of some of the Irish companies that supply Lidl and Aldi

Aldi

Over 45% of all grocery sales at Aldi are generated on products bought from Irish suppliers, producers and manufacturers.
Bewleys / Robert Roberts – all coffees and teas
Natures Isle – fresh poultry, Irish Angus beef, pork, lamb, all sourced from RoI farms and Bord Bia certified.
Irish Yogurts / Town of Monaghan Co-op / the Different Dairy Company – yogurts
Odlums – flour

Aldi use way more Irish suppliers than that. All their bread is Irish (can't think of the name of the bakery off the top of my head, think it might be Spicers).
Crisps/popcorn etc. - Largo foods (also make Hunky Dory & Tayto)
Fruit & veg - Donnelly's
Soft drinks - Gleesons

There are a good few more, just can't think of them at the moment.

Lady Chatterton · 29-03-2013 6:22pm

Honey-ec wrote: »

Aldi use way more Irish suppliers than that. All their bread is Irish (can't think of the name of the bakery off the top of my head, think it might be Spicers).
Crisps/popcorn etc. - Largo foods (also make Hunky Dory & Tayto)
Fruit & veg - Donnelly's
Soft drinks - Gleesons

There are a good few more, just can't think of them at the moment.

That's correct, I've only provided the ones that I'm aware of but there are plenty more.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 6:26pm

snubbleste wrote: »

Lidl boil in the bag rice 8x125g for €1.95/kg has been around for a long time, marginally cheaper than Aldi :cool:
It's cheaper to get the big bag of rice at €1.19/kg

It's always been cheaper to buy the bigger packs and just boil the rice the traditional way in a pot of water, but I hate doing rice that way and have always used boil-in-the-bag, so I'm happy to spend a little bit more for the convenience.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 6:27pm

Has anyone tried Aldi coffee?
I drink Carte Noire (€9 a jar in Tesco when it's not on offer) and I love it, but if anyone has found a really nice coffee from Aldi, I'll happily switch.

username123 · 29-03-2013 6:49pm

fussyonion wrote: »

Yes the Aldi boil in the bags are 125g.
The Uncle Ben's boil in the bags are 62.5g.
This is the Uncle Ben's I normally buy:

https://unclebens.co.uk/assets/images/products/rice/boil-in-the-bag/T1396-UB-BIB-Long-grain23B44.png

So one bag of Aldi's will serve 2. 99c for a box of 4.
Didn't see any brown rice.

Oh yeah, thats the single serving Uncle Bens. We use the bigger ones, but to be honest, we need 1.5 bags for two of us!

Thats cool, must check out the Aldi rice.

fussyonion · 29-03-2013 7:02pm

username123 wrote: »

Oh yeah, thats the single serving Uncle Bens. We use the bigger ones, but to be honest, we need 1.5 bags for two of us!

Thats cool, must check out the Aldi rice.

I know most people would reckon the 62g bags of rice are too small for one person but I can't eat a lot of rice or pasta; I get full too quickly and I'm used to eating a small portion.
Anyway,will give you my verdict on the rice tomorrow

Qualitymark · 29-03-2013 9:36pm

Weird the way nowhere sells risotto rice, though.

nudger · 30-03-2013 7:18am

Qualitymark wrote: »

Weird the way nowhere sells risotto rice, though.

Roma Risotto rice, Tesco and others.

Qualitymark · 30-03-2013 9:08am

Ah, thanks; I usually go for Italian carnaroli or arborio rice from Magill's or Little Italy. Roma's risotto rice doesn't produce a really creamy risotto.

curly from cork · 30-03-2013 9:57am

Qualitymark wrote: »

Ah, thanks; I usually go for Italian carnaroli or arborio rice from Magill's or Little Italy. Roma's risotto rice doesn't produce a really creamy risotto.

Lidl had risotto rice last week in. Their premium range ,it was flavored , the pack I picked up was risotto with asparagus

Thephantomsmask · 30-03-2013 10:31am

Lidl do risotto rice in blue boxes every so often as an Italian foods special, I stock up when it's on. Failing that, tesco own brand arborio.

fussyonion · 08-04-2013 5:00pm

Does anyone find the apples from Aldi strange?

I bought a tray of six apples the other day (in a cardboard tray, covered in plastic) and when I got home and opened them, I noticed they felt kinda oily?

I washed them all thoroughly but there was still some kind of coating on them.

They taste alright, but what's this film that's on them?

Honey-ec · 08-04-2013 5:10pm

fussyonion wrote: »

Does anyone find the apples from Aldi strange?

I bought a tray of six apples the other day (in a cardboard tray, covered in plastic) and when I got home and opened them, I noticed they felt kinda oily?

I washed them all thoroughly but there was still some kind of coating on them.

They taste alright, but what's this film that's on them?

They're just waxed. Give them a good rub with a paper towel and they're fine.

irishguy · 13-04-2013 9:55pm

Money asside I actually prefer doing my shopping in lidl, there stuff is just better. They have good stock of fruit & veg and they are always very quick at the checkout. We make most things from scratch so don't really get much of the prepared stuff, which I agree can be hit & miss. I do find I have to go to m&s and tesco the odd time for a few things.

penzo · 15-04-2013 10:43pm

irishguy wrote: »

and they are always very quick at the checkout.

I would think the complete opposite, the queues in lidl and aldi are one of the only things that turn me off them.

rosie16 · 16-04-2013 10:44am

i agree there's always massive queues in both Usually only 1 max 2 tills open But old people leave me off ahead of them if i only have one or two things. That's never happened in centra or supervalu XD (people being nice)

Honey-ec · 16-04-2013 4:20pm

The queues can be long, but they usually move really fast and store policy in Aldi (can't comment on Lidl) is that as soon as there's more than one person queuing past the end of the conveyor belt, they'll ring for another till operator.

I find it's people who aren't familiar with the "pack your bags at the counter" concept who tend to cause the hold-ups, but, again, my local Aldi in Tullow was quite good for asking them not to pack at the till. Actually, the till operators there were also very good for calling people who only have a handful of items up to the top of the queue too.

Tend to shop in the one in Fonthill mostly now, as it's so close to work, and I don't think I've ever either been called to the top by the operator, or told to go on ahead by the person in front of me. Nothing more annoying than standing there with your one bottle of wine while the person ahead of you unloads their week's shopping.

Mind you, maybe they just know better in that store, because on three separate occasions there I've been stung by letting people go ahead of me, who then threw their few items on to the belt and swanned off to continue shopping!

lukesmom · 18-04-2013 3:00pm

I love John west tuna light lunch but its €3.70 per pack. Tried the Lidl Nixe tuna lunch today it's gorgeous and only €1.90 a pack

2xj3hplqgsbkym · 18-04-2013 3:10pm

Just got the mc graths tea in aldi. Think it is the first time in years I havnt bought Lyons tea and it is lovely, maybe even nicer than Lyons! Not sure what the price comparison is though, I was rushing.

FanadMan · 18-04-2013 3:15pm

Ailani Millions Fossil wrote: »

Just got the mc graths tea in aldi. Think it is the first time in years I havnt bought Lyons tea and it is lovely, maybe even nicer than Lyons! Not sure what the price comparison is though, I was rushing.

I agree - McGraths tea is lovely. And think their green label is every bit as good as Lyons.

fussyonion · 18-04-2013 3:53pm

Ailani Millions Fossil wrote: »

Just got the mc graths tea in aldi. Think it is the first time in years I havnt bought Lyons tea and it is lovely, maybe even nicer than Lyons! Not sure what the price comparison is though, I was rushing.

Think it's €1.69 for 80 but if I'm wrong, someone can correct me.
I like it too.

vicwatson · 18-04-2013 7:03pm

Aldi beans are lovely, I think 49c

username123 · 18-04-2013 7:27pm

Theyve started doing a new range of salad dressings in LIDL, Meadow Fresh is the brand. Ive only tried the honey mustard so far but its nicer than the Hellmans honey mustard (which I also got in LIDL!)

leahyl · 19-04-2013 8:29am

username123 wrote: »

Theyve started doing a new range of salad dressings in LIDL, Meadow Fresh is the brand. Ive only tried the honey mustard so far but its nicer than the Hellmans honey mustard (which I also got in LIDL!)

They have lovely 'specially selected' dressings also in Aldi - the italian dressing is nom nom

GastroBoy · 28-05-2013 4:54pm

Best things in Aldi for me:

De-Caf teabags
Wholewheat pasta
Meats cooked/raw
Laundry liquid tabs
Shower gel
Linseed cereal topper
Fruit & Veg
Condiments
Chopped Tomatoes

So pretty much everything I need
Not a fan their Olive Oil, or a lot a lot the wine there.

28-05-2013 7:02pm

fussyonion wrote: »

Has anyone tried Aldi coffee?
I drink Carte Noire (€9 a jar in Tesco when it's not on offer) and I love it, but if anyone has found a really nice coffee from Aldi, I'll happily switch.

A definite no to their coffees - tried both aldi & lidl & neither have a coffee that I wud switch to

fussyonion · 29-05-2013 4:50pm

1966 wrote: »

A definite no to their coffees - tried both aldi & lidl & neither have a coffee that I wud switch to

Yeah, I think you may be right.

I've tried a few different ones now-and my parents tried some too-and there's none that taste nice, in my opinion.

Oh well, I do most of my shopping in Aldi so I don't mind buying the Carte Noire in Tesco.

Lidl/Aldi brands v names brands

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