Aldi ads

Shelflife

Not sure if this is the right place but wanted a reasonable discussion.

The current Aldi ad features a family of 4 from Cavan. They claim to have saved €485 over a four week period, thats €120 per week.

How do a family of 4 manage to save that much money every week ?

If they are changing from fillet steak to mince or champagne to sparkling water I could understand it but not on a basic weekly shop. Maybe if your weekly shop was huge and you were buying a load of crap with your basic needs you could make those savings but it simply doesnt add up for me.

Should they be made to show how these savings are made ?

Cabaal

Its very easy save a small fortune,
If you say shop in Tesco or Supervalue and buy branded products your shopping bill will be insane.
The savings occur when you switch to Aldi and buy Aldi non-branded products instead of the branded. Its easy make savings that way

Shelflife

But youre not comparing like with like.

If I buy Coca cola and kelloggs and say chivers jam in Tesco and then swap to aldis own brand theyre simply not the same product.

Its a bit like swapping fillet steak for mince, yes they are both beef and both will fill your belly but you really cant say youve saved as a result of buying it in aldi, you would make the similar savings if you changed to Tesco or Supervalu own brand products.

antix80

You don't even have to go to Aldi. Just switch to own-brand everything -If you were stupid enough to only be buying brands before ... and intentionally avoiding 2 for 1 offers.

e.g.
Dolmio Bolognese Original Pasta Sauce 500G €1.99
Tesco Bolognese Pasta Sauce Jar 500G €0.53
Saving: €1.46

L1011

Its nearly entirely made up of changes from name brand to value line own brand swaps - the actual sample receipts should be available somewhere for the quoted figures.

Xterminator

Since when has it been required for customers that post a testimonial to provide receipts etc to evidence their testimonial? these stories are like feedback on tripadvisor for restaurants etc. take with a pinch of salt.

It is clear that they are customers swopping branded goods for unbranded. And the savings are very much in line with what you would save in that case.

L1011

Xterminator wrote: »

Since when has it been required for customers that post a testimonial to provide receipts etc to evidence their testimonial? these stories are like feedback on tripadvisor for restaurants etc. take with a pinch of salt.

It is clear that they are customers swopping branded goods for unbranded. And the savings are very much in line with what you would save in that case.

When making a very specific price claim in these ads the retailer that paid for it (these testimonials aren't free!) will have obtained proof as defence if challenged by a rival

Shelflife

But its not clear, thats my point.

They claim that by shopping in aldi they make these savings, they never mention anything about changing from branded products to own brand products.

awec

Shelflife wrote: »

But its not clear, thats my point.

They claim that by shopping in aldi they make these savings, they never mention anything about changing from branded products to own brand products.

Given that Aldi (and Lidl) stock very few branded products (and I think everyone knows this at this stage) it's pretty clear and obvious IMO.

Doing the exact same shop in Aldi and Tesco would be impossible.

Mrs OBumble

Shelflife wrote: »

If I buy Coca cola and kelloggs and say chivers jam in Tesco and then swap to aldis own brand theyre simply not the same product.

Very often they are exact same stuff, with different labels.

Damien360

antix80 wrote: »

You don't even have to go to Aldi. Just switch to own-brand everything -If you were stupid enough to only be buying brands before ... and intentionally avoiding 2 for 1 offers.

e.g.
Dolmio Bolognese Original Pasta Sauce 500G €1.99
Tesco Bolognese Pasta Sauce Jar 500G €0.53
Saving: €1.46

We shop in Aldi. Switching to Tesco own brand is rotten. The Tesco finest range is generally ok but closes in on the branded stuff in price. Aldi range is lower priced and very good. Even stuff like jam is actually really good quality in Aldi but priced closer to Tesco own brand kack.

We shop for 4 people for the week, meat included and not just mince and rarely hit €100 In Aldi. We gave up on Tesco when the weekly shop was hitting €160 and we still had to go to the butchers because quite a lot of the meat is rubbish. Too much fat in mince, too much water in chicken breasts is one example.

Yougarts are another simple saving. Aldi's range is 39c a pot and beautiful. Lemon and lime, strawberry etc. Avoid the toffee. Breakfast cereal is cheap as chips and nothing like the own brand crap in any other stores.

Each change, all adds up to a considerable saving. Been going to Aldi for 3 years now and wouldn't return to Tesco or Dunnes.

skinny90

Shelflife wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right place but wanted a reasonable discussion.

The current Aldi ad features a family of 4 from Cavan. They claim to have saved €485 over a four week period, thats €120 per week.

How do a family of 4 manage to save that much money every week ?

If they are changing from fillet steak to mince or champagne to sparkling water I could understand it but not on a basic weekly shop. Maybe if your weekly shop was huge and you were buying a load of crap with your basic needs you could make those savings but it simply doesnt add up for me.

Should they be made to show how these savings are made ?

Not sure why there needs to be a thread on this I don’t see the issue. It’s how the marketers are presenting the ad. If they want to pull these facts out and advertise them on tv they need to have a sound basis of where they’re getting their figures...it’s all very well regulated and a company like aldi won’t put themselves under unneeded cosh over wishy washy figures pulled out of thin air

Cabaal

Cabaal wrote: »

Its very easy save a small fortune,
If you say shop in Tesco or Supervalue and buy branded products your shopping bill will be insane.
The savings occur when you switch to Aldi and buy Aldi non-branded products instead of the branded. Its easy make savings that way

120 quid a weeks worth of savings? They’d want to be shopping for 7 in M&S for that.

colm_mcm

I don’t know where they find these families who had never considered buying cheaper alternatives to the most expensive products.

Rows Grower

awec wrote: »

Given that Aldi (and Lidl) stock very few branded products (and I think everyone knows this at this stage) it's pretty clear and obvious IMO.

Doing the exact same shop in Aldi and Tesco would be impossible.

When last were you in a Lidl or Aldi?

They both stock a variety of major brands.

SureYWouldntYa

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Very often they are exact same stuff, with different labels.

I often hear this, but is there any examples of common products for this? Or ones that has a bit of proof

dobman88

Funnily enough there have been loads of complaints about this ad because of what they say about Meath people being tight with money at the end. The couple in the ad are from Cavan.

It's a lifelong joke between Meath and Cavan people about the other county being tight. Mist be some very easily offended people in Meath :pac:

Rows Grower

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I often hear this, but is there any examples of common products for this? Or ones that has a bit of proof

Do you ever wonder where all these new factories are that produce cheaper versions of well known products?

Usually it's the same factory selling the same product in a different packaging.

If you owned a factory and one potential new customer wanted a discount to increase your orders by a massive percentage you'd do business with them too.

L1011

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I often hear this, but is there any examples of common products for this? Or ones that has a bit of proof

Tesco have a sub-sub-sub-sub prime own brand weetabix. It has a factory address on the packet. Which is Weetabix Ltd's factory.

You'll notice identical packaging on some things like bottled fruit juices in Ireland; all coming from Mulrines in Ballybofey whether branded fancy or entry level.

zell12

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I often hear this, but is there any examples of common products for this? Or ones that has a bit of proof

Not the best example, but a recent Tesco comparison promo

Shelflife

L1011 wrote: »

Tesco have a sub-sub-sub-sub prime own brand weetabix. It has a factory address on the packet. Which is Weetabix Ltd's factory.

You'll notice identical packaging on some things like bottled fruit juices in Ireland; all coming from Mulrines in Ballybofey whether branded fancy or entry level.

May well be the same factory, but may well be different receipes.

Wheety

Shelflife wrote: »

But its not clear, thats my point.

They claim that by shopping in aldi they make these savings, they never mention anything about changing from branded products to own brand products.

In the ads I've seen, the Tesco trolley is full of branded goods and the Aldi one is own brand stuff.

It's not a direct comparison and I'm surprised they're allowed to continue.

awec

Rows Grower wrote: »

When last were you in a Lidl or Aldi?

They both stock a variety of major brands.

I shop in Aldi and Lidl every single week.

They sell some major brands (e.g. Heinz Ketchup, Barry's tea), but the overwhelming majority of the products are not the main brands you find in other supermarkets. As I said, it would be impossible to do the exact same shop in Aldi that you do in Tesco, you would have to substitute almost everything for own-brand equivalents.

Damien360

Wheety wrote: »

In the ads I've seen, the Tesco trolley is full of branded goods and the Aldi one is own brand stuff.

It's not a direct comparison and I'm surprised they're allowed to continue.

Been a while since I saw the ads but Tesco used to do a own brand vs Aldi/Lidl showing themselves marginally cheaper. That's not a good direct comparison either as the tesco own brand stuff is absolutely brutal compared to Aldi similar priced items.

theteal

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I often hear this, but is there any examples of common products for this? Or ones that has a bit of proof

Just one example but a few years ago a big batch of Hula Hoops were sent out to Aldi shops bagged up as the Aldi mutipack brand. They are the exact same product i.e. big bag was Aldi, the actual smaller packets inside were KP Hoola Hoops

Rows Grower

awec wrote: »

I shop in Aldi and Lidl every single week.

They sell some major brands (e.g. Heinz Ketchup, Barry's tea), but the overwhelming majority of the products are not the main brands you find in other supermarkets. As I said, it would be impossible to do the exact same shop in Aldi that you do in Tesco, you would have to substitute almost everything for own-brand equivalents.

They sell an awful lot more than Heinz Ketchup and Barry's Tea, they sell a rake of established alcohol brands as well as Brennan's bread, Tassimo and Nescafe coffee, loads of sweets, crisps, ice creams. soups, loads of big brand chocolates, peanuts, soft drinks etc, etc.

Rows Grower

theteal wrote: »

Just one example but a few years ago a big batch of Hula Hoops were sent out to Aldi shops bagged up as the Aldi mutipack brand. They are the exact same product i.e. big bag was Aldi, the actual smaller packets inside were KP Hoola Hoops

Same with Okey Dokey's and Hunky Dory's same product made on same production lines.

Shelflife

Wheety wrote: »

In the ads I've seen, the Tesco trolley is full of branded goods and the Aldi one is own brand stuff.

It's not a direct comparison and I'm surprised they're allowed to continue.

https://abancommercials.com/uk-ad/17422/aldi-living-life-reilly-advert

The Ad im talking about shows no products at all, just states that a family of four managed to save €120 per week .

Unless you were very wasteful i cant see how you save that type of money on a weeks grocery shopping for 2 adults and two young children

noodler

Shelflife wrote: »

But its not clear, thats my point.

They claim that by shopping in aldi they make these savings, they never mention anything about changing from branded products to own brand products.

Ah here.

You must be the only person who thinks this.

Who doesn't know also and Lidl deal almost entirely with their own brands?

Did you miss the side by side basket comparisons in these ads?

To be clear, their cola fair.enough, their veg, meat, rice, pasta, sauces, oj, milk, etc etc easily same quality.

noodler

noodler wrote: »

Ah here.

You must be the only person who thinks this.

Who doesn't know also and Lidl deal almost entirely with their own brands?

Did you miss the side by side basket comparisons in these ads?

To be clear, their cola fair.enough, their veg, meat, rice, pasta, sauces, oj, milk, etc etc easily same quality.

Meat wouldn’t be close to likes of Super Valu.

noodler

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Meat wouldn’t be close to likes of Super Valu.

Absolute nonsense.

It's all excellent.

noodler

noodler wrote: »

Absolute nonsense.

It's all excellent.

It’s not. It’s grand like, but it’s not the same quality. The veg wouldn’t be as good either, but there’s not as big a gap in it.
A lot of their packaged stuff is as good if not better though.

noodler

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

It’s not. It’s grand like, but it’s not the same quality. The veg wouldn’t be as good either, but there’s not as big a gap in it.
A lot of their packaged stuff is as good if not better though.

Packaged meat?

All their stuff is packaged (maybe you mean the veg only in this specific instance).

The mince is fine but mince is mince unless you want the expensive stiff which they do sell.

Their chicken fillets are far fresher and a better size than the slimey yokes my local SV sells.

The steaks are class.

I dunno what youve tried or what makes you feel SV is some sort of standard bearer bit it sounds like an attitude from a decade ago when some people actually thought their meat was from Germany.

noodler

noodler wrote: »

Packaged meat?

All their stuff is packaged (maybe you mean the veg only in this specific instance).

The mince is fine but mince is mince unless you want the expensive stiff which they do sell.

Their chicken fillets are far fresher and a better size than the slimey yokes my local SV sells.

The steaks are class.

I dunno what youve tried or what makes you feel SV is some sort of standard bearer bit it sounds like an attitude from a decade ago when some people actually thought their meat was from Germany.

No, packaged stuff like cereals, biscuits, snacks, sweets, freezer, etc. I know their meat isn’t loose on the shelves.

fatbhoy

dobman88 wrote: »

Funnily enough there have been loads of complaints about this ad because of what they say about Meath people being tight with money at the end. The couple in the ad are from Cavan.

It's a lifelong joke between Meath and Cavan people about the other county being tight. Mist be some very easily offended people in Meath :pac:

Well, a Cavan person thinking someone is tight is a low slur; I can't think of anything worse, to be honest.

:pac:

Xterminator

meat in aldi/lidl is superior to tesco/dunnes and comparable with supervalu.

one example, my missus used to only eat sausages from superquinn/SV, then we tried the hand tied ones in lidl and loved them.

PsychoPete

A close relative of mine works in a meat factory, worked there myself years ago packing meat etc the same meat that went to Aldi also went to Supervalue

PsychoPete

PsychoPete wrote: »

A close relative of mine works in a meat factory, worked there myself years ago packing meat etc the same meat that went to Aldi also went to Supervalue

Not where I work. Same machinery, same basic packaging apart from branding, but SV pay for higher quality meat and check regularly that they are getting it too.
That said, I’d be more than happy to eat Aldi or Lidl’s when doing a whole shop and only have to go to the one place.

Shelflife

OmegaGene wrote: »

For starters there are 2 adults and 3 children lol

A family of 5 could certainly save this making cut backs and ditching branded products for unbranded, a certain member of my family was blowing €400 a week in Dunnes and when money was tight due to a change of circumstances they went to aldi/Lidl and dropped to €200 a week

God bless your eyesight, i never spotted the baby, in fairness its only in the first shot. :-)

awec

The Aldi/lidl steaks that come in the cardboard boxes are the best steaks out of any supermarket by an absolute mile, and believe me I've tried them all.

In my own personal experience I find Tesco to be the worst place to shop for both meat and veg, the stuff is crap.

Cazale

We always shop in Aldi and find their stuff great quality and reasonably priced. We had a baby a few weeks ago and I didn't have the time for the 40 minute round trip to Aldi so I went into my local Tesco to do a weekly shop. I was shocked at the difference in the prices. Every item I got was 50c-€3 dearer with no noticeably increase in quality. When you are buying 60+ items those price differences quickly add up. Back to Aldi for us!

Cabaal

Shelflife wrote: »

But its not clear, thats my point.

They claim that by shopping in aldi they make these savings, they never mention anything about changing from branded products to own brand products.

The advert and aldis own website for the adverts only show aldi branded products.

The advert is fine, they are buying like for like products. Jam in aldi, jam in the other supermarket etc etc.

numbernine

Rows Grower wrote: »

Same with Okey Dokey's and Hunky Dory's same product made on same production lines.

When the j-o oreo type biscuits came out, we got a pack and the biscuits inside were branded oreo.

MOH

awec wrote: »

I shop in Aldi and Lidl every single week.

They sell some major brands (e.g. Heinz Ketchup, Barry's tea), but the overwhelming majority of the products are not the main brands you find in other supermarkets. As I said, it would be impossible to do the exact same shop in Aldi that you do in Tesco, you would have to substitute almost everything for own-brand equivalents.

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

No, packaged stuff like cereals, biscuits, snacks, sweets, freezer, etc. I know their meat isn’t loose on the shelves.

Yeah, you're both definitely right. The "Kellogs Corn Flakes" I buy in Aldi tick all the boxes: not a major brand; misrepresented; and inferior. And don't get me started on their "Hunky Dorys". :rolleyes:

SureYWouldntYa

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I often hear this, but is there any examples of common products for this? Or ones that has a bit of proof

I posted this a month ago because I'd genuinely never came across two differently labelled products being the same

But this evening, I had some quadruple chocolate cookies from Aldi that are the exact same as used to be Tesco Finest

Actually semi pleased to come across this because part of me thought it's all just an urban myth

GerardKeating

L1011 wrote: »

Its nearly entirely made up of changes from name brand to value line own brand swaps - the actual sample receipts should be available somewhere for the quoted figures.

That's one of two ways switching to ALDI/LIDL reduce your weekly shop.

In addition to the swich to own Brand products, ALDI/LIDL have a smaller range of products, and you end up buys less.

Doctor Nick

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I posted this a month ago because I'd genuinely never came across two differently labelled products being the same

But this evening, I had some quadruple chocolate cookies from Aldi that are the exact same as used to be Tesco Finest

Actually semi pleased to come across this because part of me thought it's all just an urban myth

I used to work in a jelly factory. Was one of the first jobs I had after leaving school. My jaw dropped when instead of changing the sweets when switching brands we just changed the packaging. I'd say lots of other products are the same.

Wesser

I have noticed this aswell as to how a family could save euro482 a month. I have emailed aldi to ask them how much did they have to spend to save 482. It seems like a crazy amount of money. They fobbed me off and did not answer the question.

prinzeugen

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

I posted this a month ago because I'd genuinely never came across two differently labelled products being the same

But this evening, I had some quadruple chocolate cookies from Aldi that are the exact same as used to be Tesco Finest

Actually semi pleased to come across this because part of me thought it's all just an urban myth

It is an urban myth. There may be a handful of cases where the same product is sold under different names but they are owned by or produced for the same parent company.

Shops cannot afford to have their own factories so buy production slots in factories dedicated to sticking stuff in tins, baking biscuits, making sandwiches etc.

Sandwiches are a good example as it was featured on BBC2 recently.

This factory makes sandwiches for M&S, Aldi, ASDA, Tesco etc. They have a dedicated line for prawn sandwiches (allergens etc).

Everything from the bread, butter, prawns & packaging is supplied to the factory by the shop from the shops own dedicated suppliers.

Say M&S need prawn sandwiches. They phone the factory and book a slot, say 10am-12pm every Tue and Thur.

Just before t 10am the machine (which may have just run through a batch of prawn sandwiches for Lidl) will be shut down, cleaned and re-calibrated to take the M&S ingredients and packaging that have just arrived on a truck minutes before. (Known as "just in time" in manufacturing)

They run through that batch and at 12pm the machine will be cleaned again and set up for say ASDA. and so on.

Its the same for the majority of own brand products.

When you see product recalls for multiple brands of product it is not usually because they have the same ingredients, it is because the were packaged on the same machine that has had an undetected fault.

Wesser wrote: »

I have noticed this aswell as to how a family could save euro482 a month. I have emailed aldi to ask them how much did they have to spend to save 482. It seems like a crazy amount of money. They fobbed me off and did not answer the question.

Lidl had a bit on there website (https://www.lidl.ie/the-big-save-terms) explaining how they came to this figure. It was always Lidl vs the most expensive equivalent in Tesco, Supervalu etc. The price comparison claims made by Lidl and Aldi have got them into hot water in the UK on more than one occasion as it is blatant false advertising.

wonski

prinzeugen wrote: »

It is an urban myth. There may be a handful of cases where the same product is sold under different names but they are owned by or produced for the same parent company.

Shops cannot afford to have their own factories so buy production slots in factories dedicated to sticking stuff in tins, baking biscuits, making sandwiches etc.

Sandwiches are a good example as it was featured on BBC2 recently.

This factory makes sandwiches for M&S, Aldi, ASDA, Tesco etc. They have a dedicated line for prawn sandwiches (allergens etc).

Everything from the bread, butter, prawns & packaging is supplied to the factory by the shop from the shops own dedicated suppliers.

Say M&S need prawn sandwiches. They phone the factory and book a slot, say 10am-12pm every Tue and Thur.

Just before t 10am the machine (which may have just run through a batch of prawn sandwiches for Lidl) will be shut down, cleaned and re-calibrated to take the M&S ingredients and packaging that have just arrived on a truck minutes before. (Known as "just in time" in manufacturing)

They run through that batch and at 12pm the machine will be cleaned again and set up for say ASDA. and so on.

Its the same for the majority of own brand products.

When you see product recalls for multiple brands of product it is not usually because they have the same ingredients, it is because the were packaged on the same machine that has had an undetected fault.



Lidl had a bit on there website (https://www.lidl.ie/the-big-save-terms) explaining how they came to this figure. It was always Lidl vs the most expensive equivalent in Tesco, Supervalu etc. The price comparison claims made by Lidl and Aldi have got them into hot water in the UK on more than one occasion as it is blatant false advertising.

Aldi and Lidl sandwiches i Ireland are not made with factory slots. I haven't seen the BBC piece on it, but it doesn't happen here.

A tender is announced and the suppliers (sandwiches factories) go for it.

That's it.

There is no "we supply you with ingredients you make sandwiches" factory slots here.

And I actually never heard of these factory slots thing, but must be logistics nightmare.

Not to mention quality and supply issues down the line.

I've been in three separate factories, that produced three different products (one was Milk, one was cleaning sponges, and one was pre-made salads).

In every instance, the products that were own-brand, and the products that were the factory brand, were made differently. The differences weren't in the ingredients themselves, but in the amount of each ingredient used. Tesco milk is more watered down than Avonmores, and the process to make Avonmore's bottles sealed airtight is different on tesco's so the milk won't last as long, for example.


I presume this is the same with the vast majority of products out there.


Now, as someone who alternates between tesco and avonmore milk, i can't tell the difference, but nonetheless, i know there is one.