Aldi & Lidl Fresh Produce

Carawaystick

To be honest,
if I bought strawberries off a grower in Wexford in July, I'd be planning on them being off 2 days later.

If I got strawberries in January that lasted a week and came from away foreign, I'd be taking a geiger-muller tube to it.

Animord

Carawaystick wrote: »

To be honest,
if I bought strawberries off a grower in Wexford in July, I'd be planning on them being off 2 days later.

If I got strawberries in January that lasted a week and came from away foreign, I'd be taking a geiger-muller tube to it.

This. There is a such a very fine dividing line with soft fruit between ripe and gone over that there is no way any big supermarket can possibly do it. It just isn't possible. Buy your fruit either in season or, if you must eat them in January then get them frozen.

fussyonion

I agree; the fruit and veg in Aldi always goes off too quickly.
I do a lot of my shopping there but I've stopped buying fruit and veg.
I bought celery one day and two days later it was black.
Same with the peppers; all soft and bruised.

I think the fruit and veg in Lidl is a lot better, as is Tesco.

micraX

Nice bit of false advertising in aldi in finglas yesterday. Sign up saying curly kale was Irish. Yet every prepack said origin UK on it..

maringo

Maybe it was from N Ireland. I always love the fruit/veg offers in Lidl and Aldi. Never find any problem with them going off. Keep them in the fridge or in the shed if no room and get the week out of them - the tomatoes improve wih being kept. Generally found in Moore Street they sneakily stuck in a badun from the back of the stall.

vicwatson

micraX wrote: »

Nice bit of false advertising in aldi in finglas yesterday. Sign up saying curly kale was Irish. Yet every prepack said origin UK on it..

What had the manager to say when you brought it to their attention?

vicwatson

The raspberries in lidl at the moment are simply fantastic

Qualitymark

I don't generally buy things like strawberries or blueberries out of date, holding to the superstition that fruit only tastes sweet and bursting-with-flavour when it's in season. But apart from onions, garlic & ginger, any fruit or vegetables I buy (which almost invariably means any from Lidl or Aldi) get washed with a few drops of grapefruit seed oil in the water, which acts as a natural and harmless anti-mould coating. (I'm asthmatic, so mould is deadly to me.) This generally works really well; you get the grapefruit seed oil, under the brand name Citricidal, I think it is, in health food shops.

micraX

vicwatson wrote: »

What had the manager to say when you brought it to their attention?

He told me that they have different suppliers and the bad weather is making it hard for boats to come in (which is true, only reason why the supermarkets are taking Irish cauliflowers this week because the boats can't come in.) so I said that that doesn't make sense as with the bad weather yous shouldn't have UK produce they should have Irish. Then he started getting aggressive and calling me "a know it all" when all I want to know was why it clearly said Ireland on the sign. He started muttering stuff and walked away. Other shoppers were there at the time and they looked as shocked as I did.

mike65

People are such snobs and poorer for their short sighted attitudes. I buy all my fruit and veg in Lidl and without complaint - does the odd onion in a bag turn out to be rotten? Yes, that happens cos its fresh product not because its sold in lidl

Qualitymark

On the other hand, long live the snobs. If all the other shops close down for lack of custom, Lidl and Aldi will become the dominating grocers of Europe, leaving huge areas a shopless, jobless wasteland where there's no choice of goods, and good prices a mere memory. Keep shopping in M&S, etc, snobs, and don't forget your local butchers, fishmongers and grocers.

mike65

If shops can justify the premium then fine - if not they are ripping you off, or you are ripping yourself off by not changing.

lamoss

I usually get my shopping early in the morning and find the fruit and veg in Aldi and Lidl to be in perfect quality. If any products are in nets or plastic cartons I always look underneath the bottom for any mouldy or squashed product, you will find the occasional" bad one" but after all this is fresh produce.

I find also that if you shop later in the day most of the good stuff has gone and all that is left is the stuff that has been damaged by customers handling or dropping it and putting it beck on the shelves.

I tend to avoid Tesco and the like if I only want say 1 punnet of grapes or other soft fruits, as they charge you a lot more if you don't buy it on their offers.
example. grapes 2 for €6 ..............in small print € 3.85 each. Lidl €2.25 each.
If you keep your eyes open and shop wisely, you can save a lot of money by using Aldi and Lidl.