Aldi & Lidl Fresh Produce

MrsKitka

I just opened two wrapped punnets of strawberries from Aldi, which I bought on Saturday and both of them were rotten and fuzzy. The paper label on top of the punnet hid the evidence. It is the very last time that I will ever buy fresh fruits or vegetables from either Lidl or Aldi simply because for every small saving I make on one or two featured items, I end up chucking the rest of the stuff in the bin.

Don't get me wrong. I like shopping in Aldi and Lidl for wine, non-perishables, household goods and the odd featured special but I am sick to the back teeth of coming home with triple-wrapped bruised tomatoes, squashed clementines and fuzzy berries. Ever notice how NONE of the fruit and veg have sell-by dates?

Just saying....

DoozerT6

Yes. I rarely buy fruit (esp berries) from Lidl for that very reason. They're furry and squishy within two days.

Edit: what an awesome 500th post!!

pwurple

Buying strawberries anywhere in january is going to be similar though I would have thought? They are completely out of season here, so must be transported a huge distance... Ie not be very fresh by the time they get to the shelves.

vicwatson

I tend to look at the arse of the packet if possible and check first, to date I've never had a problem, If I don't like the look of them I dont buy them, simples.

vicwatson

pwurple wrote: »

Buying strawberries anywhere in january is going to be similar though I would have thought? They are completely out of season here, so must be transported a huge distance... Ie not be very fresh by the time they get to the shelves.

Wouldn't have thought Holland or Spain is huge distance, plus they are transported in temp controlled environment so shouldn't be a problem.

Pinch Flat

Why not bring them back for a refund?

sea_monkey

Aldi and lidl are the only places i buy my fruit and veg. They are ripe and ready to eat unlike dunnes or tesco which are tasteless and can take up to a week to get ripe.

thegreatiam

I check the fruit in all shops before I buy it. aldi and lidl have a slightly higher % of rotten fruit by my estimate, but it's not so much higher than anywhere else that it makes a difference. Just get the fruits that seem fresher.
Ive thrown out fruit from tesco, and marks and spencer just as often as I throw fruit from aldi and lidl.

spank_inferno

Berries sold at a low price have usually been chilled for some time.

When brought back to room temp, they spoil very rapidly.

Fruit is one of those things the discounters struggle to get right.

rubadub

sea_monkey wrote: »

Aldi and lidl are the only places i buy my fruit and veg. They are ripe and ready to eat unlike dunnes or tesco which are tasteless and can take up to a week to get ripe.

+1 I rarely buy some fruit as I usually am in tesco or dunnes where its expensive and tasteless. I gave up on oranges as they were like eating water, really odd.

Got oranges in lidl and ate 4 in a row they were so nice. Gave one to a friend who was saying "jesus, that's what oranges are supposed to taste like, that's how I remember them in the 80's".

Kiwis were also really dark and great flavour. I had ones from dunnes and was eating them about 2 months after their best before date, only ripening then, with little flavour.

homemadecider

I buy blueberries, melon, bananas and apples in Lidl every week. I do check the berries very carefully before I put them in my basket as the odd time there's a bad batch, but it's easy to avoid buying rotten ones. The fruit in Lidl is the best I've found in any supermarket in Dublin.

drquirky

As like most things from Lidl and Aldi (despite what people try and convince themselves) you usually get what you pay for.

M and S fruit and veg is more expensive but there is pretty much no contest in freshness/ quality

vicwatson

drquirky wrote: »

As like most things from Lidl and Aldi (despite what people try and convince themselves) you usually get what you pay for.

M and S fruit and veg is more expensive but there is pretty much no contest in freshness/ quality

I wholeheartadly disagree with this observation.

the beer revolu

drquirky wrote: »

As like most things from Lidl and Aldi (despite what people try and convince themselves) you usually get what you pay for.

M and S fruit and veg is more expensive but there is pretty much no contest in freshness/ quality

Mum, is that you?

Lucena

If you buy fruit out of season, you will generally have some problems with it. Out of season fruit is generally not as tasty as in season fruit, generally speaking.

This doesn't excuse any shop selling dodgy produce, though.

sawdoubters

I buy my fruit at moor street,they take the rotten ones out for you

hfallada

OP if you start shopping in tesco or Dunne's you will be lucky to find decent fruit at all and if you do it's usually rotten. I find lidl and aldis produce the freshest of supermarkets

theteal

I find quite the opposite, I regularly buy cherry tomatoes and grapes from aldi and they last so long compared to sainsbury/asda/tesco that I've almost convinced myself (conspiracy theory) that they're doused in some unusual preservative that cannot be good for me

JimsAlterEgo

how do they get away with not having use by dates ot fruit and veg?

Alun

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

how do they get away with not having use by dates ot fruit and veg?

Who is 'they', Lidl/Aldi or retailers in general? I've never seen a use by or sell by date on any fruit veg anywhere, let alone Lidl or Aldi, and would pay them no heed even if they did. If it's green and hairy throw it out, simples (unless it's a kiwi fruit, or a gooseberry of course)

rubadub

Alun wrote: »

I've never seen a use by or sell by date on any fruit veg anywhere

You do see it on some prepackaged stuff, obviously its not a legal requirement as so many have none. Not "use by" dates but "best before" and "sell by"

I have a few kilos of carrots right now which were being sold off for a few cent in tesco. All perfectly good, none looking remotely on the turn, you see worse in the loose section.

I got kiwis in dunnes for next to nothing as they were also near the BB dated. Took a good month longer to ripen.

LaughOrDie

I find the fresh produce in LIdl pretty good.

Alun

rubadub wrote: »

You do see it on some prepackaged stuff, obviously its not a legal requirement as so many have none. Not "use by" dates but "best before" and "sell by"

I've seen it on stuff like bagged salads for example, but not other veg. I often end up scavenging veg that's on the turn from the fridge or vegetable rack, cutting off mouldy or squidgy bits. I hate throwing things out if they can be rescued, and an arbitrary date printed on a packet isn't going to make me waste it if it can still be rescued.

JimsAlterEgo

Alun wrote: »

Who is 'they', Lidl/Aldi or retailers in general? I've never seen a use by or sell by date on any fruit veg anywhere, let alone Lidl or Aldi, and would pay them no heed even if they did. If it's green and hairy throw it out, simples (unless it's a kiwi fruit, or a gooseberry of course)

Most berries have use by dates on them, Keelings, M&S, tescos own brand. Actually most packaged fruit & veg does.

Alun

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

Most berries have use by dates on them, Keelings, M&S, tescos own brand. Actually most packaged fruit & veg does.

OK, maybe you're right. I never look at them anyway, or any of that nutritional info nonsense either, so maybe I've just overlooked them. Still totally unnecessary anyway.

the beer revolu

I've never seen 'use by' dates on fruit or veg.
I've often seen 'best before' dates on fruit and veg.
There is a big difference.

Maudi

I did find aldi /lidl fruit goes mouldy very quickly BUT if you take grapes for example.wash them in cold water dry them put em back in the dry punnet and keep in FRIDGE they last ages with no fuzz..

rubadub

drquirky wrote: »

As like most things from Lidl and Aldi (despite what people try and convince themselves) you usually get what you pay for.

I get what I pay for alright, decent quality stuff that is cheaper than similar supermarkets.

You seem to be suggesting people are lying to themselves trying to convince themselves that the cheap stuff is acceptable. Loads of blind tastings were done on lidls range and it was beating many of the leading selling brands.

Not sure why I would be lying to myself about my lidl oranges being FAR better than tesco or dunnes ones. Maybe the M&S ones would be on a par or better, but I imagine they are at least twice the price and I doubt they could be such an overwhelming difference in taste that I would value them as being worth twice the price.

the beer revolu

Some people can't be convinced that the likes of Lidl and Aldi don't sell inferior goods. My mother is a typical example. She has this notion in her head and no amount of evidence will shift that notion. "If it's cheap, it must be inferior" seems to be the reasoning. Even when presented with Aldi prime steaks and told the price of them (not cheap at all), she would prefer not to eat them.

Now, I understand someone being sceptical of discounted retailers, what I don't get is why the same people are so trusting of the mainstream supermarkets.

Alun

I get this too from a friend of mine who when told that the vast majority of both meat and veg in both shops is Irish, gives me the real-life equivalent of :rolleyes: as if to say, "Yeah, right."

rubadub

the beer revolu wrote: »

"If it's cheap, it must be inferior" seems to be the reasoning.

One response to get people thinking that can be
"but the heinz ketchup (or other big brand product) is cheaper"
"what!?!"
"well if you take off the advertising costs involved with that item its a cheaper product, so by your logic it should be worse, they must be using cheaper ingredients"
"nah nonsense"
"you could mail order the lidl ketchup from germany, then it might cost more than heinz, so it should be better then, according to your logic, additional unnecessary postal costs are similar to unnecessary advertising costs don't you think?"

Now of course the big brand one could have better ingredients, but it gets people thinking. Being a beer fan yourself you will know a huge % of the cost of mainstream beers is the advertising. And when people do blind tastings of stout many cannot tell the difference, yet many would not touch beamish with a bargepole since its "cheap", take off the expensive advertising and work on the same profit margins and then guinness might be regarded as the cheap muck :rolleyes: