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Cheaper brand food, what are the hidden gems?

  • 03-04-2021 04:55PM
    #1
    Kermit.de.frog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,177 ✭✭✭✭


    Just had a packet of Centra salted roasted peanuts. Don't get me wrong, they are no KP but they are serviceable in my considered opinion. :)

    And that's what this thread is for. Unearthing the diamonds in the rough among the cheaper brands.

    Cheaper doesn't always mean worse!

    So what would you buy in Aldi instead of Supervalu?

    Can a mod move to after hours? I put in wrong place.


«134

Comments

  • #2
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,018 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Lidl gluten free chocolate covered rice cakes. 25% of the price of most other brands - and nicer.


  • #3
    fineso.mom
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,095 ✭✭✭fineso.mom


    Loads of stuff in Aldi. Their sweet tomato relish is delicious, raspberry way jam nicer (fruitier) than Chivers. Their porridge in the black bag, nicer than flavahans. That's just a frw off the top of my head. To be honest there's very little I would go elsewhere for.


  • #4
    odyssey06
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 38,138 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    Lidl italiamo range

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • #5
    Thelonious Monk
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,311 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    Cans of Rheinbacher in Aldi, it's like 4.40 for 4 and it's delicious


  • #6
    CIARAN_BOYLE
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,595 ✭✭✭✭CIARAN_BOYLE


    I think there used to be a megathread in bargain alerts for this sort of thing.


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  • #7
    Kermit.de.frog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,177 ✭✭✭✭Kermit.de.frog


    Ironically enough near the end of the tiger years when Aldi/Lidl set up shop here I remember loads of people wouldn't be seen dead in either. Now it's like a badge of honor


  • #8
    Vic_08
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,154 ✭✭✭Vic_08


    Aldi

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057449529&page=381


    Lidl

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057482448&page=121


  • #9
    zerosugarbuzz
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,224 ✭✭✭zerosugarbuzz


    Kermit.de.frog wrote: »
    Ironically enough near the end of the tiger years when Aldi/Lidl set up shop here I remember loads of people wouldn't be seen dead in either. Now it's like a badge of honor

    Not for all of us, I'd only every buy bits and pieces there, never a full shop.


  • #10
    corner of hells
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,439 ✭✭✭corner of hells


    Kermit.de.frog wrote: »
    Ironically enough near the end of the tiger years when Aldi/Lidl set up shop here I remember loads of people wouldn't be seen dead in either. Now it's like a badge of honor

    My sister in law said that she would never shop in LIDL or ALDI because is her own words "its a shop for poor people ", at the height of the last recession, even when her husband was unemployed.
    Her own father , a tough ol' townie laughed at her asking if her shiite smelled of roses too.


  • #11
    Mad_maxx
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,496 ✭✭✭✭Mad_maxx


    Lidl bitter lemon drinks , 25 cent per one litre bottle , think im the only one in the country buys them though ?

    find Lidl greek yoghurt very good too and their gluten free biscuits , saskia sparkling water is lovely too


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  • #12
    jmcc
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,700 ✭✭✭jmcc


    odyssey06 wrote: »
    Lidl italiamo range
    The Italiamo pizza gear is excellent. The ice cream is good too.

    Regards...jmcc

    Regards…jmcc



  • #13
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,815 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Aldis multopack of 'Hoops' are basically identical to the far more expensive Hula Hoops. Someone on Twitter bought a multipack of Hoops and out came packets of Hula Hoops so theyre obviously made in the same factory and they definitely taste identical.


  • #14
    Gunmonkey
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,067 ✭✭✭Gunmonkey


    Aldi sometimes has a knock off Wibbly-Wobbly-Wonder ice cream, 6 in a box for about €3. Not made by HB anymore but still delish. Also got some great ice cream in Lidl during their recent "Alpine Fest": one tub black forest and another Bavarian cream and strawberries....bloody gorgeous stuff.


  • #15
    Doctors room ghost
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,863 ✭✭✭Doctors room ghost


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Aldis multopack of 'Hoops' are basically identical to the far more expensive Hula Hoops. Someone on Twitter bought a multipack of Hoops and out came packets of Hula Hoops so theyre obviously made in the same factory and they definitely taste identical.




    I wouldn’t be believing any of that old Twitter sh1te.they just put them hula hoop bags in for the drama of it.I’ve ate the aldi hula hoops and thought they were muck.may more salt on them and drier and a bigger size.


  • #16
    Zebra3
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,273 ✭✭✭✭Zebra3


    There’s great value high protein granola in Aldi.


  • #17
    odyssey06
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 38,138 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    Kermit.de.frog wrote: »
    Ironically enough near the end of the tiger years when Aldi/Lidl set up shop here I remember loads of people wouldn't be seen dead in either. Now it's like a badge of honor

    LIDL for a long time now is nothing like the LIDL that first opened.
    I remember going into the Baldoyle store in its first year, no fresh stuff, nothing Irish, it was all dry goods from the Continent - I was there for the Ice Tea :)

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • #18
    EmmetSpiceland
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,977 ✭✭✭✭EmmetSpiceland


    Aldi’s version of Pringles, called ‘Stackers’, are dynamite. The salt and vinegar ones are the best but the BBQ do in a “pinch”.

    Why they bother selling “ready salted” or sour cream and onion is beyond me. Shelves are always full of those but no old seems to buy them. Because they are muck.

    Same thing happens with the freezer pizzas, ham and pineapple as far as the eye can see but no four cheese or pepperoni.

    “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be” - A. Dumbledore

    “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish nation” - Thomas Davis



  • #19
    completedit
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭completedit


    What's the story with their meats? I have spoken to a few people who continue to take pride in the fact they don't shop in Lidl or Aldi. I brought home some rolls and meats to workers I had working in my house a while back and they scoffed at it calling it 'cheap stuff'. Such a cringeworthy mindset whereby you're a slave to Dunnes Stores or Supervalu but if the food quality actually is better than I get it.

    Lidl's fruit and veg can be terrible though. Within a couple of days it starts to go off. Happens too much tbh.


  • #20
    Cienciano
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,197 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    Everything in lidl


  • #21
    RacoonQueen
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 20,369 Mod ✭✭✭✭RacoonQueen


    zerosugarbuzz wrote: »
    Not for all of us, I'd only every buy bits and pieces there, never a full shop.

    Same here, suppose it depends how you shop/eat in general but I never found it all that cheaper anyway for what I buy. Fruit and veg is much the same price and better quality from Dunnes IMO.
    When I ate meat I'd pick up the smoked bacon bits in lidl, they were lovely, in everything...and would get mince and mozzerella in there if making a lasagna. Most basics are the same price in the budget lines in Dunnes and Supervalu.


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  • #22
    odyssey06
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 38,138 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    completedit wrote: »
    What's the story with their meats? I have spoken to a few people who continue to take pride in the fact they don't shop in Lidl or Aldi. I brought home some rolls and meats to workers I had working in my house a while back and they scoffed at it calling it 'cheap stuff'

    LIDL have beef rib roast on the bone... ribeye steaks... as good if not better than anything you'll get wherever those few people shop.
    Their duck is the same Silver Hill duck you get anywhere else.

    Those people don't have a notion of what they are talking about.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • #23
    pgj2015
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,461 ✭✭✭✭pgj2015


    sugarman wrote: »
    Most "own brand" stuff from the likes of Aldi and Lidl are just rebranded goods from well known brands made on the very same production lines.

    Its not always obvious, but you can tell when there are certain food recalls at times.

    I remember Muller yogurts had a big recall for possible pieces of plastic/metal and it included Brooklea and Millbona brands made for Lidl and Aldi.

    Another I recall is McGraths tea in Aldi, made by Robert Roberts and I think Lidls version is made by Bewleys.

    You just have to be open to tasting a few things and voting with your taste buds rather than the consumerism of big brands.

    Sure an awful lot of the quality of big brands are shite now anways, Cadbury being the prime example since Kraft/Mondelez bastardised it by changing the ingredients with cheap substitutes and making everything micro sized.

    Lidl/Aldi luxery ranges of Belgian/German/Swiss chocolates are far superior these days and cost much the same if not less than what you'd pay for Cadbury.



    Bewleys must be awful so because that Fallons tea from lidl tastes like piss.


  • #24
    gameoverdude
    Site Banned Posts: 7,421 ✭✭✭gameoverdude


    Lidl fishcakes, especially the haddock ones.


  • #25
    elperello
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 19,330 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    pgj2015 wrote: »
    Bewleys must be awful so because that Fallons tea from lidl tastes like piss.

    And you recognise that taste because ...... :)

    My nomination for hidden gems is Gelatelli Almond Choc Ices in Lidl.


  • #26
    Rubberlegs
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,073 ✭✭✭Rubberlegs


    sugarman wrote: »
    Most "own brand" stuff from the likes of Aldi and Lidl are just rebranded goods from well known brands made on the very same production lines.

    Its not always obvious, but you can tell when there are certain food recalls at times.

    I remember Muller yogurts had a big recall for possible pieces of plastic/metal and it included Brooklea and Millbona brands made for Lidl and Aldi.

    Another I recall is McGraths tea in Aldi, made by Robert Roberts and I think Lidls version is made by Bewleys.

    You just have to be open to tasting a few things and voting with your taste buds rather than the consumerism of big brands.

    Sure an awful lot of the quality of big brands are shite now anways, Cadbury being the prime example since Kraft/Mondelez bastardised it by changing the ingredients with cheap substitutes and making everything micro sized.

    Lidl/Aldi luxery ranges of Belgian/German/Swiss chocolates are far superior these days and cost much the same if not less than what you'd pay for Cadbury.

    Absolutely, my daughter bought a multipack of Aldi crisps recently and included was a packet of Tayto Meanies :)


  • #27
    Sharpyshoot
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 452 ✭✭Sharpyshoot


    Kermit.de.frog wrote: »
    Ironically enough near the end of the tiger years when Aldi/Lidl set up shop here I remember loads of people wouldn't be seen dead in either. Now it's like a badge of honor

    Lidl is a poor mans Aldi.


  • #28
    Kermit.de.frog
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,177 ✭✭✭✭Kermit.de.frog


    To play devil's advocate here...

    Is there not a point to make here that there is inevitably a difference in quality and you get what you pay for?

    Isn't it just a fact that the quality of items in Supervalu, for example, is going to be better than that in Aldi/Lidl?

    It can't all be just as good. Goods are cheaper in value stores for a reason, make no mistake.

    I see some saying some things might taste nicer but isn't that in a "needs more dog" type of way to quote the Simpsons? Even for those things it must be balanced with quality assurance, cheaper ingredients, mice in the kitchen etc...?


  • #29
    Notmything
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,359 ✭✭✭Notmything


    Rubberlegs wrote: »
    Absolutely, my daughter bought a multipack of Aldi crisps recently and included was a packet of Tayto Meanies :)

    KP produce meanies fwiw.


  • #30
    EmmetSpiceland
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,977 ✭✭✭✭EmmetSpiceland


    Sharpyshoot wrote: »
    Lidl is a poor mans Aldi.

    The only think Lidl has on Aldi is the bakery “section”.

    Aldi has far superior crisps and snacks.

    “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be” - A. Dumbledore

    “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish nation” - Thomas Davis



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  • #31
    shawki
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 693 ✭✭✭shawki


    Just as nice as Loop the Loops and they are the proper shape before they were shrunk.

    8 for €2.60 in SuperValu

    https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/frozen-foods-sticks-lollies-franco-s-lemon-lime-pops-8-pack-640-ml-/p-1391849000


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