Aldi

I Now know why aldi is so popular having
seen it packed out so my times and wondering
what all the fuss was about? its a great store with so
many items at a fraction of the cost compared to morrison
or tesco. yeah i was a food snob thinking morrison was
the better end and aldi was at the bottom but have learned
to change my tune now aldi will be one of the places i will
shop regularly. so if you think aldi as not for you then think again!

On the basis of pricing, Aldi is five star. However, this doesn’t mean that I’m happy to buy fresh fruit and veg that dissipates into a puddle of rot in a day or so. Which, unfortunately has happened the last two occasions I have shopped at this particular location. It’s pretty hard to make informed decisions on how long fresh fruit and veg will last when there is no sell by, best before etc… date or any indication as to when it arrived in store. You have to do it on looks alone and that is inaccurate.
The last time I went in, I bought some clementines and carrots amongst other things. They looked and felt fine in store, although on that particular day (17÷11÷14) the trays of veg were peppered with packs that were completely rotten, this was glaringly obvious (and clearly had not just occurred that day) but staff felt it acceptable to leave these furry, green products for sale. I tried to pay special attention to my choices because of this but again, there is no adequate labelling so it’s purely on a wish and a prayer that what you’re buying is fresh. The carrots, which as root vegetables should at least last a few days after purchase, were completely rotten (seriously, not even just the ‘skin’) in under two days and the clementines were soft, gross and managed to start rotting the rest of my fruit basket in record time also.
REASONABLY speaking, fresh produce unless indicated otherwise by date should last 2 – 3 days after purchase without showing signs of spoiling but are usually even fine to eat for a couple of days after that. This has not been the case for the last couple of visits, which is the reason for this review. Sure, it’s cheaper and that’s fantastic. I’m pro-​Aldi on most levels but if the product is way below par then there ceases to be value and I’m just p*ssing money up the wall. Unless, they are suggesting that I buy all fresh things on a daily basis. Which again ceases to be cost effective.
I just don’t understand why Aldi does not label fruit and veg with AT LEAST the date it came in store, or make assurances on their policy for this. Not to mention that I have witnessed a store manager training a new employee on what I’d call a dubious attitude to sell by dates and product permeation that I found insulting as a customer.
Also, in regards to ‘customer service’ — while yes, this store in particular is busy, I get that, I’m sympathetic and pretty grateful that they’re speedy on tills, I do not appreciate having things that I pay good (admittedly less than at Tesco) money for being quite literally lobbed into my trolley. Especially when as an able bodied, efficient young person who isn’t a fan of small talk, I’m not even close to being a slow packer.
I’m even okay with just putting things in the trolley myself and bagging to the side but the 1000 scans an hour policy they impose on cashiers mean that they throw your stuff around without any care. This not only annoys me and bruises my avocados but is vastly unnecessary because they do this even when I’m the only person in line and the store is close to empty (not this location, it’s always busy but they do this in other stores too, especially Clayton) so I don’t find it to be acceptable. Sometimes, the cashiers are so outwardly rude and callous that it borders the impression that they’re doing me a favour and I’m getting all this stuff for free. It’s cheap, yes but not free so I’d like a minimum of forced politeness and for my food not to be chucked at me.
If that’s unreasonable then I’d just like for them to not sell me rotting food. For cheaper food that’s actually somewhat near fresh, you can be rude and throwy all you want, Aldi.

I really, REALLY want to give Aldi five stars, based on the fact that it’s (probably) the best value-​for-​money supermarket in the UK. However, I always seem to leave the store in a very bad mood.
I put this down to the fact that, because of its low prices, it attracts a ridiculous amount of customers, particularly during peak times. This makes it incredibly difficult to move around the shop floor — and don’t even get me started on the queues (ok basically, they can stretch right to the back of the shop sometimes). I find it an absolute bloody nightmare and have therefore been avoiding the place for the last couple of months.
But yesterday, I decided to see what Aldi was like at 9am, when all the city centre workers would be seated comfortably at their desks and everyone else would still be eating their breakfast and watching Lorraine, if out of bed at all.
Seriously, Aldi at this time is a dream! I managed to navigate my way around the shop without banging into anyone’s basket, having to apologise or getting in the usual rage because someone’s blocking my way into the wine section.
Talking of wines, and alcohol in general, Aldi do some superb bottles of sauvignon blanc for under £8 and you can get a 4-​pack of their Taurus pear cider for just £2.50! Bargain! Also, my sister, a gin enthusiast, tells me Aldi’s own brand gin is just as good as Bombay Sapphire and costs a fraction of the price.
They also stock a good selection of chilled, fresh and frozen foods (their £1.50 pizzas are a godsend at the end of the month when our cupboards are looking a bit bare).
It’s a shame Aldi don’t deliver as we’d probably buy a lot more from them but at least I know when to avoid the crowds now!

I love this Aldi. Is it sad to love Aldi? Is it sad to love any kind of supermarket? I don’t care to be honest. This place is just great.
It’s close to my office and to the bus stop, making it a breeze to call in after clocking off. It’s huge and has a huge variety of products.
I would particularly recommend: the mini Brie (comes in garlic or blue), the tins of flavoured tuna (lemon & black pepper especially), the dried egg noodles, any of the dried pasta, packets of mixed cashews & peanuts, the stir fry veg mixes, the fresh ginger and chillies, and the almond croissants.
The fruit & veg is usually great but can be a bit off sometimes so it’s worth inspecting it a little bit before you chuck it in your trolley. Look out for the special 6 offer on fruit & veg (or whatever it’s called) as you can get a really good deal. I find it pretty easy to buy mostly healthy food from here, although there are quite a lot of tempting snacks and treats around.
Overall there’s not much I’ve bought from here that wouldn’t rival other supermarkets. And while at other supermarkets I find myself with less stuff than I intended and more to pay, here I’m always surprised at how little it costs and how heavy my bag is as I walk away.
Despite the fact that my usual visits are at extremely busy times (around 5.30 on a weekday) it’s usually pretty painless as there are approximately one million staff on the checkouts at any given time and they work at the speed of light — they’re also standardly smiley and friendly and often quite chatty.

Aldi on a fairly busy Sunday afternoon wasn’t too bad really! Lost of cashiers. Lots of shoppers.
As it was my first time here in a while I had to take double the time to find anything. Which is the usual problem with having two entrances to a store.
They had the snacks I wanted and drinks. Good Experience over all.

I think I need to cut my body in half to stop the constant dichotomy that I face — I am a food snob who loves bargains. While my inner core is screaming for me to only shop at Marks and Spencers, my bargain-​basement brain is completely and utterly in love with Poundland. It took me a few months to venture into Aldi and even then I only went in under the pretext that I would leave immediately upon entering BUT THEN I DISCOVERED HOW GREAT IT IS! Decent quality food at ‘I earn barely enough to pay my rent’ prices. I particularly love the vegetable section as it goes completely against the ridiculous overpriced apples at bigger name stores and actually makes vegetables affordable again. I have even been able to eat meat, thanks to Aldi. My protein levels have soared through the roof since discovering their chicken selection at half of the price of Tesco. Most products are from the UK as well which means that both my wallet and my morals feel good.
It is also very exciting to see what new products they bring in each week. Sometimes you could get an entire fishing outfit, socks, cookware, hammers, novelty toys — there’s always something new that you never realised you needed.
Shopping at the Aldi in Market Street at 5.30pm on a week day is some sort of torture as you fight your way down aisles and try and grab the last bag of spinach. But the new checkout system is brilliant and you never have to wait long before you are out of there.

Aldi is always good, with a great selection of ‘not so’ brand names and decent prices on everything
You can even check online to see which special items they will be adding to the middle each week.
But this particular store is not one I am very keen on, I feel the layout and upkeep is poor, things are not as tidy or well displayed as other stores although this is due to the fact that so many more people come in here than other out of town Aldis.
Anyway is convenient and no one should complain at the price

This Aldi is heavenly. I’m still waiting for ones in the States to rise to the challenge…
I regularly shopped here while living in Manchester, and I couldn’t get enough. The produce is simply unbeatable; nowhere else can you get such beautiful and fresh produce for their incredibly low prices. I repeatedly had to do double-​takes and wipe my eyes while loading my basket.
As Emma-​louise said, they did occasionally cut off some of my favorites, but there were still loads of other items that made me happy. This store is enormous for a British city centre.
Nothing made me as happy as having my total ring up. Yes, the process that normally makes us all cringe always made me smile at Aldi. Somehow, I’d always walk out with a week’s worth of fresh fruit and veg, smoked salmon, crackers, peanut butter (I’m American, hush), and all other goods I loaded in my cart (those gummies by the till always got me) for only 10 or 11 quid. Unreal.

I love this shop. It’s so cheap and the quality isn’t to bad. The best thing by far though is the sandwich section. They use the same supplier as a well known supermarket chain but charge £1.59 for the best ones. Brilliant for a cheap lunch in the city. There also really good for jars and tins but veg doesn’t tend to last for ages but is cheap enough so not really a problem

I was going to whinge about Aldi in my next update. I really was. They keep getting rid of the things I like the most. Where is my luxury Macademia Nut Brittle, Pralines and Cream or Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream? My smoked salmon filled pasta parcels? My little vegetarian snacks? Why do you mock me, Aldi? Why do you cruelly snatch from the shelves my very favourites?
Bereft, I shuffled your aisles. I arrived at the checkout with a sour expression on my face. I paid for my goods.
«Would you happen to be a student?» asked the smiley, friendly, pretty checkout girl.
«No,» I responded whimsically. «I wish I still was though.» *Sigh.*
«Oh,» she said. «It’s just that we’re giving all students who spend over £10 today and tomorrow a free bag.»
Aldi’s kindness softened my heart. «Aw, that’s wicked!» I said, thinking she meant a reusable tote bag.
She thought for a moment. «Well, you look the same age as a student, so I’m going to give you one anyway.» And I was handed not a reusable tote bag, but a bag of shopping containing a large milk chocolate bar, a pack of white chocolate buttons, a huge bag of tortilla chips, a big bag of dry pasta and an ample jar of pasta sauce.
I almost cried. «That’s so sweet of you!» I enthused.
So I said I was going to whinge. But I’m not. Aldi, flattery and freebies will get you everywhere.

Since when can cheap like Aldi hit the high street and be successful. Because we thrifty lot can sometimes make do with some cheap tin of beans and tomato sauce.
Aldi is huge. Not just about the food items, there’s cameras and biking gear going for really cheap.
I once went to a packed out house party, it was an Aldi party. Aldi alcohol and snacks and they were proud. It all tasted and did the same thing. We even did a taste test between Strongbow and Aldi cider. Similar, very similar.
Although it is undoubtedly super cheap, there’s just some things I can’t buy cheap. Like eggs, 99p for ten eggs, but caged harmful chicken eggs. The fruit and vegetable is supposed to be fresh daily but there are not dates on them, so that’s a no no for me too. Meat, I’m just too fussy. But having said that, I will often find some mozarella, some munchy snacks, some tinned tomatoes and herbs. Aldi saves me half the money for those items.

Aldi is pretty much an anagram of Lidl and such a fundamental observation can be helpful — Aldi is basically Lidl but jumbled up! They basically sell identical products, sourced primarily from Eastern Europe, and position them in different locations around the store. You’ll recognise the same comical brand names such as Mister Choc and Master Crumble but have difficulty locating them. Aldi seems to dedicate more shop floor to the sort of low quality hiking gear and DIY equipment that Lidl shoves in a few metal cages by the refrigerators. One of my favourite items they stock is the banana and apple juice for 60p a carton — it’s basically liquid bliss.
This Aldi is in a really handy location and you can exit the Arndale Centre through it’s gloriously laden shelves and find yourself back out on the high street. Brilliant!

I’m a big fan of this Aldi on Market Street. As others have said, the prices of the sandwiches are ridiculously cheap and it’s a great place to grab some lunch if you’re on a serious or almost non-​existent budget.
What I really like about Aldi is its selection of nuts and snack. Coated chilli peanuts? They’re absolutely amazing!

Where else can you buy a sandwich for under 90p in the centre of Manchester? I’d be genuinely interested if you could find somewhere with cheaper lunchtime offerings than Aldi? They’re not bad sandwiches either, and with a packet of crisps (15p) and a bottle of water (39p), you’ve got yourself a pretty cheap lunch.
Along with a large-​ish section dedicated to fuelling the city centre office workers, of course they also stock cheap fruit and veg (49p for a box of mushrooms this week), confectionery (£2 for 6 Crème Eggs), alcohol (£2.99 for a perfectly drinkable bottle of red) and assorted items (ski jackets, anti freeze, crossword books, tool kits…).
When my sister visited from Sheffield she was so jealous that we have this Aldi on our main shopping street. After filling her bag with Lebkuchen and gingerbread houses, I think she may consider moving to Manchester purely so that she can shop here rather than Tesco! I don’t blame her.

These are the best stores in Manchester’s main high street, Aldi has so much reasonably priced food it’s untrue. People in the UK though usually don’t get it. Because some folk create crap stuff that isn’t very nice at all it tends to incur that the british spend more money on nice base ingredients then make something nice with it, so they’ll buy there ready meals from marks and spencers.
Elsewhere on the continent people have a constant passion for food, so whether you buy your grub from lidl or aldi it’s all going to come out the other end with the same love and time that makes for a great meal. Aldi’s profits in the UK would sky rocket if they just took a bit more time and passion into what goes on in their kitchens, instead of rushing around and only ever using the microwave.

Emma is spot on the money here — Aldi is great. It offers low, low prices and surprisingly good quality goods. My opinion of it is in similar territory to my feelings about Lidl in that I love the sweet section. Random, random brands that you don’t find elsewhere, good stuff.
I could imagine doing my weekly shop here if I lived nearby, but the scars of social ordering run deep, and I do always feel slightly guilty whenever I enter, as if a wall will slide down to reveal my classmates from 15 years past pointing and laughing. My therapist says I’ll overcome that someday.

I’m not prone to depression but spending five minutes in this Aldi definitely made me feel like I was sliding down a long and bleak hillside.
For starters, this store is about ten times bigger than any Aldi I’ve seen before and looks and feels like a gigantic Iceland. There’s no attempt at seducing customers or displaying goods in an attractive manner — everything is just stacked up as easily as possible with horrible signage. The lights look like interrogation strip-​lights and there’s no music or ambience.
In short, the whole focus is on the products and what a mixed bunch they are! One minute you’re walking past an aisle of cheap biscuits, crackers and crisps, the next cheap cheap DVD players, walkmans and sat navigation systems. At the back of the store there’s an even cheaper fresh and frozen section with perfect looking fruit and veg, meat, fish, cheese, butter, pizzas, puddings and ready meals.
Strangely, Aldi seem to sell odd bits and bobs of clothing too from cheap fishing gloves and hats to wool scarves. I’m sure you could pick up some good things if you looked hard enough but frankly, I can’t imagine having the time or the inclination to return.

Aldi 5 vegetables & fruits offer is very helpful. I enjoy the courgette and satsuma for 50 P each. It is absolutely bargain though it is a bit awkward the fact they do not have used by sign. How old or how fresh? I really have no idea.
I also think their smoked salmon is all right. It tastes fine and much cheaper than other supermarkets with better quality.
The staff is very speedy and rapid service. I also like the fact Aldi in town has a shopping bucket. You probably need to go another supermarket to buy your weekly food but for finding a good bargain (especially vegetables and fruits), it is good place to go!

I love aldi. Although i have no idea where half the food comes from, you cant beat loaves of bread for 35p!
Whenever i go in after work the fridges are usually half empty. There are never and chicken breast fillets left!
The veg isnt very nice ad goes off quick.

Aldi are a different outfit they sell cheap but quality food from the continent. BLT sandwich, 100ml fresh orange juice, yogurt and a banana for lunch for under two quid! I do not see any supermarket beating that. Their wine and spirits selection is not bad either i would highly recommend you try their ‘Tamova’ vodka 5 pounds cheaper than Smirnoff and by far better quality.
The only drawback about this place is that there are too many tills and not enough staff, too many deputy store managers not enough store assistants. Its even worse at peak times (17:00 — 19:00) customers end up leaving their full shopping baskets and walking away in protest.