The distruction and mauling of stock in Lidl

Our man in Havana

Why do people feel its ok to rip open boxes and maul the stock in Lidl? You won't find this happening in Tesco or Dunnes. So why does it happen in Lidl?

Gone West

key demographic...

Our man in Havana

FuzzyLogic wrote:

key demographic...

You reckon? I have seen some well to do people misbehaving in Lidl before.

flogen

maybe they like to abuse poor peoples goods.

KTRIC

This is one of my pet hates in Lidl. I shop regularly in Lidl, i spend alot of time in Germany and it's a local store there aswell. I've never seen people in Germany opening the packages, i really don't know why Irish people feel its ok to open the packages here.

I can't even generalise on who these people are, because Lidl / Aldi is now frequented by all walks of life.

KTRIC

flogen wrote:

maybe they like to abuse poor peoples goods.

Where do you shop ? It must be hard to get your bread in Harrods back to Dublin before it goes off !!!.


Both myself and my partner have well paid jobs, like the nicer things in life and we still think the produce in Lidl is good quality. Why do people have this mis-conception that Lidl or Aldi are for poor people. They offer good quality goods at cheaper prices's because the offer "no frills" shopping.

BoozyBabe

K-TRIC wrote:

Both myself and my partner have well paid jobs, like the nicer things in life and we still think the produce in Lidl is good quality. Why do people have this mis-conception that Lidl or Aldi are for poor people. They offer good quality goods at cheaper prices's because the offer "no frills" shopping.

Agreed & same here!!!

the_menace

K-TRIC wrote:

Why do people have this mis-conception that Lidl or Aldi are for poor people.

Because everything's cheaper maybe? I think you're clutching at straws with that argument.

BoozyBabe

the_menace wrote:

Because everything's cheaper maybe? I think you're clutching at straws with that argument.

So, say you shop in Tesco every week, another store opens down the road from your local Tesco, it stocks products identical to those found in Tesco but charges you 25% more for those products, are you going to shop there instead because you're NOT poor, & so can afford to pay the higher price???

No, I wouldn't think so!!!
Agreed, the products in Lidl / Aldi are not identical to those found in Tesco / SuperValu etc, BUT, for a lot of people (including myself) the quality of (most) products is every bit as good as those found in more expensive stores.
If that's what I believe, then why would I pay the higher price?
It's certainly NOT because I'm poor

the_menace

Do you work for Aldi or Lidl or something??? Aldi and Lidl aren't anywhere nearly as well stocked as Dunnes or Tesco and, if I am to generalise, the quality of their products aren't as good. Lidl is good for some stuff, there's no doubt about it. I've gone into the one near Darndale and picked up some bargains but if I wanted to do a proper grocery shop for the week, I would need to go to another supermarket to get all the things I needed. And I wouldn't go near the meat in Lidl.

elexes

aldi/lidl are atm unknown still .some of there products people will know and trust but the majourity of them people dont have a clue about them . this is why they open boxes

the only thing i buy there so far is a 19" flat monitor a gps system and maby one or two other bits .

i prefer to do my shopping in dunnes as i work right becide it.

this happens in other stores not just aldi/lidl why do you think pc world have things out of boxes . people will buy what they can see feel and smell

Litcagral

Bond-007 wrote:

Why do people feel its ok to rip open boxes and maul the stock in Lidl? You won't find this happening in Tesco or Dunnes. So why does it happen in Lidl?

Have you ever visited any TK Maxx branches? Any time I've been there the stuff is in a mess with opened boxes and shop-soiled goods everwhere. It's just like a jumble sale.

KTRIC

Litcagral wrote:

Have you ever visited any TK Maxx branches? Any time I've been there the stuff is in a mess with opened boxes and shop-soiled goods everwhere. It's just like a jumble sale.

I don't shop in TK Maxx, they sell seconds. And its all out of date stuff from the States anyway.

BoozyBabe

the_menace wrote:

Do you work for Aldi or Lidl or something???

No, I have a V well paid job as a Systems Administrator.

All I was saying is that people don't just shop there because they're poor & can't afford to shop anywhere else.
There are a lot of people, like me, who find the quality of their food to be just as good as the traditional store, & like the fact that I can pay a lot less for them.

As usual, the Irish are just afraid to embrace what they don't know & take up this snobby misconception that only lower class citizens shop in the like.

(Oh, & as for the fact that you wouldn't touch the meat there, I know for a FACT that some particular meat products in Lidl are the EXACT same product from the exact same processing plant, handled in the exact same way, as in Tesco, Supervalu & Superquinn)

I mean, everyone's entitled to their own opinion & if you wouldn't dream of shopping there, then that's fair enough, continue to be ripped off, but please don't turn up your nose at all those people you see walking out of Lidl with bags full of shopping.

Litcagral

K-TRIC wrote:

I don't shop in TK Maxx, they sell seconds. And its all out of date stuff from the States anyway.

I think you are contradicting yourself now as you appear to have a misconception about TK Maxx (even though you don't shop there).

Some things may be end of line but that dosen't make them out of date. How can a picture frame or a belt be out of date? AFAIK most of the stock is sourced in the UK and is not 'seconds'.

the_menace

BoozyBabe wrote:

No, I have a V well paid job as a Systems Administrator.

Good for you.

BoozyBabe wrote:

All I was saying is that people don't just shop there because they're poor & can't afford to shop anywhere else.

Who said that was the case?

BoozyBabe wrote:

There are a lot of people, like me, who find the quality of their food to be just as good as the traditional store, & like the fact that I can pay a lot less for them.

Some of the produce there is good quality, some is dreadful. It's not a matter of 'finding it that way' - it's simply fact.

BoozyBabe wrote:

As usual, the Irish are just afraid to embrace what they don't know & take up this snobby misconception that only lower class citizens shop in the like.

Who are these snobby people? Did you get lynched by a bunch of fur coat wearing, X5-driving Dublin 4 housewives on your way out of Lidl or something?

BoozyBabe wrote:

(Oh, & as for the fact that you wouldn't touch the meat there, I know for a FACT that some particular meat products in Lidl are the EXACT same product from the exact same processing plant, handled in the exact same way, as in Tesco, Supervalu & Superquinn)

Funny that well paid Systems Administrator would know something like that. I personally know for an absolute fact that you're wrong (well, apart from maybe Tesco - I don't know where they get their meat and it's not good anyway)

BoozyBabe wrote:

I mean, everyone's entitled to their own opinion & if you wouldn't dream of shopping there, then that's fair enough, continue to be ripped off

Like I said, I've shopped there before and picked up some bargains but I wouldn't go there regularly because a) they have poor selection and b) the quality of a lot of their stuff is crap. You can call me a snob for having standards of quality when I'm grocery shopping if you want but don't spit on my cupcake and call it frosting. It is an absolute fact that the quality of goods in Lidl is, generally, not as good as more expensive supermarket chains.

BoozyBabe wrote:

but please don't turn up your nose at all those people you see walking out of Lidl with bags full of shopping.

I wouldn't worry about the nouveau riche pretending that they've got class and bitching about people shopping at Lidl/Aldi as they stroll "inte Mearks and Spencers, bud" - they're not worth it. Why get wound up?

europerson

the_menace wrote:

Do you work for Aldi or Lidl or something??? Aldi and Lidl aren't anywhere nearly as well stocked as Dunnes or Tesco and, if I am to generalise, the quality of their products aren't as good. Lidl is good for some stuff, there's no doubt about it. I've gone into the one near Darndale and picked up some bargains but if I wanted to do a proper grocery shop for the week, I would need to go to another supermarket to get all the things I needed. And I wouldn't go near the meat in Lidl.

I have to agree. The quality of food products in Lidl and Aldi is generally atrocious. I find Lidl good for tissues and toilet rolls, but that's about it. There are significant savings to be had in these areas. It is truly impossible to complete one's entire grocery shopping for a week in an Aldi or Lidl. The meat in Lidl, in particular, is often sourced from the same processors as the other stores, but, believe me, they are not the same quality of cattle or sheep (I know: I'm from a farm).

BoozyBabe wrote:

Agreed, the products in Lidl / Aldi are not identical to those found in Tesco / SuperValu etc, BUT, for a lot of people (including myself) the quality of (most) products is every bit as good as those found in more expensive stores.

Rubbish: see above. In addition, there are significant variations in the ingredients used in products. Recent comparisons by myself found that chocolate in Lidl contained less milk and less cocoa mass than a branded product, Lidl bacon was higher in salt and cut from further back in the pig's loin, and Lidl detergents contained an alarmingly high concentration of ionic surfactants.

Guy:Incognito

the_menace wrote:

And I wouldn't go near the meat in Lidl.

I'm going to assume it's the different taste you dont agree with? A quick look at the ingredients of some products will see why theres a difference. German sausages for example generally have 90-100% pork conent, whereas if you pick up a packet of denny/everyday sausages the pork content is below 60%. Fair play if you prefer crap, eah to their own.

the_menace

Stekelly wrote:

I'm going to assume it's the different taste you dont agree with? A quick look at the ingredients of some products will see why theres a difference. German sausages for example generally have 90-100% pork conent, whereas if you pick up a packet of denny/everyday sausages the pork content is below 60%. Fair play if you prefer crap, eah to their own.

If you're going to join the debate, don't put words into people's mouths. It makes you look like a complete idiot.

1) I rarely eat processed red meats.

2) I was talking about the chicken.

BoozyBabe

the_menace wrote:

Funny that well paid Systems Administrator would know something like that.

Do you think processing plants are just a load of butchers standing in a row with knives????;)

& trust me when I say it's fact, I swear to you I do know for an absolute FACT.

The particular meat that I'm talking about, comes from the same farms, & all the other stuff I've already said, after the product is wrapped the only difference is the sticker placed on the wrapping. (The meat is never graded depending on customer)

& This product goes to Lidl, Tesco, SuperValu & Superquinn, Centra, Spar & lots of smaller places & it's the exact same meat in each store

(I'm not saying this is the case for every single piece of meat sold in Lidl, but for the particular type I'm talking about, it is.)

the_menace

BoozyBabe wrote:

Do you think processing plants are just a load of butchers standing in a row with knives????;)

& trust me when I say it's fact, I swear to you I do know for an absolute FACT.

The particular meat that I'm talking about, comes from the same farms, & all the other stuff I've already said, after the product is wrapped the only difference is the sticker placed on the wrapping. (The meat is never graded depending on customer)

& This product goes to Lidl, Tesco, SuperValu & Superquinn, Centra, Spar & lots of smaller places & it's the exact same meat in each store

(I'm not saying this is the case for every single piece of meat sold in Lidl, but for the particular type I'm talking about, it is.)

Why does the meat taste different then?

BoozyBabe

Maybe it's a notion in your head that because you bought it in Lidl it must be of a lesser quality, but again, I can promise you it's not

Ok, in fairness, after the meat arrives in the particular stores, how they handle it is up to them.

Perhaps Lidl don't refrigerate it as soon as others, but perhaps they refrigerate it even sooner, I don't work in any of those places so I can't say.

Oh, & also, I'm not talking about value added meats, i.e. those in sauces, herbs, spices etc, as each store does have their own recipies for those, & therefore, would taste different. I'm talking your ordinary non-processed cut of meat.

Ronan|Raven

the_menace wrote:

Why does the meat taste different then?

:eek:

the_menace

BoozyBabe wrote:

Maybe it's a notion in your head that because you bought it in Lidl it must be of a lesser quality, but again, I can promise you it's not

Ok, so we've established that your a Systems Admin for a meat processing plant and you happen to 'know for a fact' that all the meat that goes to Lidl, Supervalu, Superquinn, Spar, etc. is exactly the same.

BoozyBabe wrote:

Ok, in fairness, after the meat arrives in the particular stores, how they handle it is up to them.

Perhaps Lidl don't refrigerate it as soon as others, but perhaps they refrigerate it even sooner, I don't work in any of those places so I can't say.

Okay, so now the meat isn't exactly the same. Can you explain the difference in taste (it's not in my head, please don't patronise me), consistency and composition? The meat from Lidl is s**t. I know because I've eaten it. Fact. The meat in Lidl and the meat in Superquinn are not from the same source. Fact.

BoozyBabe wrote:

Oh, & also, I'm not talking about value added meats, i.e. those in sauces, herbs, spices etc, as each store does have their own recipies for those, & therefore, would taste different. I'm talking your ordinary non-processed cut of meat.

So am I.

the_menace

Ronan|Raven wrote:

:eek:

Don't worry, I didn't swallow.

BoozyBabe

Fact, the particular plant I know of supplies Superquinn & Lidl, FACT & there are no distinctions between them

Ah here, enough of this!

I couldn't care less whether you like Lidl or not, I've no shares in the place!

I've only told you what I know to be true.

If you believe it, you do, if you don't, who cares, you're not buying meat there anyway.

Good for you, pay more for the same product somewhere else if that's what you're happier doing.

the_menace

BoozyBabe wrote:

Fact, the particular plant I know of supplies Superquinn & Lidl, FACT & there are no distinctions between them

Which plant is that? I'll call them and ask them.

rmacm

the_menace wrote:

if I wanted to do a proper grocery shop for the week, I would need to go to another supermarket to get all the things I needed. And I wouldn't go near the meat in Lidl.

Lol being a student I'd have to disagree with you it's very possible to do grocery shopping for a week in Lidl

Granted when you plan on living on chicken burgers and potato wedges for a week or 2 it helps.

Cheers
Rory

Ronan|Raven

I find their meat products fine, the ham and salami I find lovely. Things like burgers I dont bother with as I get them from my local butchers the same with sasuages. Got a leg of lamb one day from there and have to say found it more than adequate.

BoozyBabe

the_menace wrote:

Ok, so we've established that your a Systems Admin for a meat processing plant

You make a lot of unfounded assumptions.....

I never said that. I actually had a conversation with a manager from a plant recently who informed me of this.

As for any info on the plant. I don't think the premium priced stores would be too happy for the public to know that their products are the same as somewhere like Lidl, so I won't say who this person worked for.

Sure this is also common practice in dairy plants, etc, you don't think Tesco milk their own cows, do you? :rolleyes: So I don't know why you're finding it so difficult to comprehend.

Mossy Monk

Lidl have the worst cheese i have ever tasted. nice ice cream though

Nightwish

It happens in the shop where I work too. Any boxes left out on display are opened, and the contents are mauled, damaged or stolen.

Litcagral

[QUOTE=BoozyBabe

As for any info on the plant. I don't think the premium priced stores would be too happy for the public to know that their products are the same as somewhere like Lidl, so I won't say who this person worked for.

Sure this is also common practice in dairy plants, etc, you don't think Tesco milk their own cows, do you? :rolleyes: So I don't know why you're finding it so difficult to comprehend.[/QUOTE]

I would generally agree with you. I think people are confusing taste with quality. A lot of the product in Lidl is generally lesser known but that dosen't mean it's lower quality. I think Barry's Gold Blend is by far the best tea but I don't feel that Lyons is inferior because I dislike it. When I go abroad on holidays I dislike many of the products available in main supermarkets but I accept that I have different tastes. Do people really think that Ireland has the best foodstuffs and that the rest of the world are eating rubbish?

the_menace

BoozyBabe wrote:

I never said that. I actually had a conversation with a manager from a plant recently who informed me of this.

Again, which plant?

BoozyBabe wrote:

As for any info on the plant. I don't think the premium priced stores would be too happy for the public to know that their products are the same as somewhere like Lidl, so I won't say who this person worked for.

I see. Suffice to say I don't believe you at all. If I was privvy to such information I would think that consumers would have a right to know above profits of large supermarkets and their sensibilities.

BoozyBabe wrote:

Sure this is also common practice in dairy plants, etc, you don't think Tesco milk their own cows, do you? :rolleyes:

Wow, a completely irrelevant point backed up with a sarcastic question and a 'rolleyes' smiley. I won't dignify it with an answer, princess.

BoozyBabe wrote:

So I don't know why you're finding it so difficult to comprehend.

It's not that I find it difficult to comprehend, I just don't believe you and, quite frankly, I think your argument is laughable. It's actually hilarious. It's like putting a red bus and a green bus right in front of my eyes and telling me they're both red. I've eaten meat (specifically chicken) from Superquinn, Supervalu, Lidl and several other supermarkets (I'm train with weights so I eat quite a lot of chicken breats) and I know that Lidl chicken breasts are different.

You claim to know the name of a meat processing plant that supplies the exact same quality meats to most major supermarkets in Ireland and I say to you - who? If you refuse to answer then I call you a liar. Sorry.

Litcagral

Relax 'the menace'. There's no need for such an aggressive tone. BoozyBabe is entitled to his/her views. Visit any of the bakeries in Ireland and you will see bread being wrapped for different supermarkets all coming from the same source. I used to work in the Fruit and Veg business and the same product was supplied to different customers, just a change of wrapper. Yet people used to say 'I wouldn't eat Yellowpack bread' or ' those Dunnes tomatoes are lower quality'. I'm sure it's the same in the meat industry.

Nightwish

It is the same in the meat industry-same product, just different labels.

BoozyBabe

the_menace wrote:

I just don't believe you and, quite frankly, I think your argument is laughable. It's actually hilarious.

I call you a liar.

I'm not arguing. I just chose to tell members of boards.ie a little fact that I know of. You chose to attack me on it.

It is fact, I don't care if you call me a liar, because I'm not really bothered by your opinion.

If you believe that there are multi-million euro plants all around Ireland only supplying to one customer, making their business 100% dependant on that customer, then you're a very naive person.

Like I said, it really doesn't bother me where you buy your meat, or how you think it tastes, if you're happy then that's all that matters.

If you're not a purchaser of Lidl meat, then my comments are none of your concern.
They're intended for other readers who are a little more open-minded.

I also eat meat from Lidl, as others have said, & I've found it to be no different than that from any other supermarket

Litcagral

Hear, Hear.

Gone West

Bond-007 wrote:

FuzzyLogic wrote:

key demographic...

You reckon? I have seen some well to do people misbehaving in Lidl before.

I never said poor people.

I meant thrift shoppers and people who penny pinch.(im a student, I shop in aldi sometimes)
Obviously not all will maul boxes and whatnot.
Only a small few.
but its more noticable there than tesco/etc because more penny pinchers/etc shop there.
obviously.

Chavster

the_menace wrote:

It's not that I find it difficult to comprehend, I just don't believe you and, quite frankly, I think your argument is laughable. It's actually hilarious.

You haven't even put forward an argument, you just say its worse quality because you don't like it. You started by saying all meat there is sh1te but actually you don't like some chicken breasts you had.

the_menace wrote:

The meat in Lidl and the meat in Superquinn are not from the same source. Fact.

I don't believe you. I think your "argument" is laughable, hilarious even.

the_menace wrote:

I've eaten meat (specifically chicken) from Superquinn, Supervalu, Lidl and several other supermarkets (I'm train with weights so I eat quite a lot of chicken breats) and I know that Lidl chicken breasts are different.

Lidl do chicken breasts that aren't actually chicken breasts but some sort of processed rubbish. I made that mistake once.

In general I find the meat and dairy stuff in Lidl to be perfectly fine and definately comparable to stuff from Dunnes and Tesco.

Gone West

ehh. how can you call his argument laughable btw?
He said the meat in lidl and the meat from superquinn arent from the same source. thats a rock solid fact.

back up your points, kiddo.

europerson

All one needs to do is check the IRL-EC stamp mark on the meats, and that will tell one where they've been processed.

BoozyBabe

FuzzyLogic wrote:

thats a rock solid fact.
.

But that's my point!!

It's NOT a rock solid fact. The source has no say of where their animals go. They sell to the plant.

The plant sells to their customers.
The plant that I'm talking about has customers which include all the main supermarkets that I named earlier & Lidl.

There is no distinction between which customer gets which meat, they are all wrapped identically & at the end of the line there is a person who has an order sheet who knows how many Lidl or Superquinn etc labels that need to be stuck on each product in order to fill the particular customers order.

Why do people chose to believe that I'm trying to bulls**t ye, it really doesn't matter to me.

BoozyBabe

europerson wrote:

All one needs to do is check the IRL-EC stamp mark on the meats, and that will tell one where they've been processed.

That's correct. Each plant has a unique number that they have to have visible on all their produce.

Chavster

FuzzyLogic wrote:

ehh. how can you call his argument laughable btw?
He said the meat in lidl and the meat from superquinn arent from the same source. thats a rock solid fact.

back up your points, kiddo.

They may or may not be the same source, I don't know. I was trying to emphasise the fact that he's ridiculing boozybabe's posts without offering any evidence to the contrary other than his tastebuds and the fact he trains with weights.

Whilst Boozybabe's evidence is anecdotal at best at least it was offered as backup to her claim. Instead of producing conflicting evidence to back up his point the_menace calls her laughable and hilarious.

Gone West

theyre not.
Forget packaged frozen chicken nuggets and shíte for a minute.
You buy fresh/fresh packed meat from superquin, it comes from ireland. They have seriously strict quality controls on what they buy in. They buy the best quality meat for an expensive(relatively speaking) price. Aldi/Lidl buyers buy meat that will pass Quality controls and legal requirements, just barely(which are actually strict enough) and they buy this for a lower price.

Its economics 101.

Not all pr or spin, ive seen this for myself.

Litcagral

Superquinn rant on about being able to trace their meat from the field to the fork but it's just PR, something which they are good at as they have a willing audience That may impress some people but basically involves getting the name of the farmer from the processor and printing it on the receipt. Some customers appear to think that Superquinn observe the rearing of all the animals themselves from birth to factory. It's just meaningless but probably lucrative PR.

BuffyBot

It is truly impossible to complete one's entire grocery shopping for a week in an Aldi or Lidl.

Nope. Not impossible at all. However, Aldi/Lidl have never claimed to be providers of everything. They purposely try to locate their stores near to other outlets such as butchers etc so people can do a full shop in or around the store.

As for the dry goods being a similar quality to the chain stores, I tend to find Aldi's closer to the real thing that Lidl's.

As for the mauled produce etc - I've seen it most recently in Dunnes a couple of weeks ago. Boxes ripped, battered and opened and left on the shelf. Certainly not exclusive to any one chain.

zenith

The hard discounters' entire business model is built around limiting the number of SKUs that they have to carry. I think it's about 1500.

So, you can do an entire week's worth of shopping in Lidl, if you ONLY buy the 1500 most popular products, and are unconcerned with brands.

rubadub

Just cause meat comes from the same plant doesnt mean it should taste the same. As mentioned before subsequent storage will effect things. There are many companies that produce goods of varying quality in the same plant, like buiscuit and bread makers who will use lower grade flour and heat at higher temps for faster times and shop out these slightly inferior products as "own brand" goods. These plants may have varying standards that the supermarkets may dictate. Tesco have finest, tesco, and value meats on their shelves, many probably from the same plant.

If you look at the nutritional values on canned foods you can spot where the supermarkets are getting theirs from. In my teens I worked helping load trucks and went around chivers and shamrock foods etc, picking up pallets and saw dunnes beans, peas in these warehouses too.

I think the mauling of food is opening to get a look at what is inside, as mentioned before, since they are unfamiliar products. In tesco you often see those fresh "indian meal for 2" boxes opened up. They often leave the opened boxes on the shelves to stop opening of further packets, I often have a peek in torn boxes of fresh food boxes like those tesco ones with no windows. But I would never tear one open myself. The worst is people who open the box, decide they want it and pick up a closed one!

Litcagral

zenith wrote:

The hard discounters' entire business model is built around limiting the number of SKUs that they have to carry. I think it's about 1500.

So, you can do an entire week's worth of shopping in Lidl, if you ONLY buy the 1500 most popular products, and are unconcerned with brands.

The established supermarkets hoped to down this avenue several years ago when Aldi and Lidl were establishing. They assessed what brands shoppers were buying especially with lesser needed items and reduced stock. In this way they saved space and still kept the majority of customers happy. (A supermarket manager told me this) I don't know if it worked though.