I did check and saw there was a thread, but last post 2017 so figured it’s time for an update.
I used to be an absolute Lidl Stan. But at that time there was no Aldi in near proximity to me. However, since then Aldi has become my local. Therefore I went through this mourning phase before coming to the decision Aldi was better.
HOWEVER, yesterday I was in the vicinity of a Lidl and decided to do my shopping there again, and almost immediately decided Lidl was back to being my favourite. I find Aldi is quite ‘sanitised’ for the UK market, and also it doesn’t have as exciting fruit and veg. Lidl also seems to have a lot more international produce, stuff like kabanosi and bratwurst. Also since Lidl introduced self service checkouts it’s been much better.
Lidl. Never been in an Aldi. The one time I lived near an Aldi, there was a Lidl just down the road, so I went there instead, everywhere else has been Lidl only, and I’m fine with that.
I think London has definitely benefited from ‘new look’ Lidl stores as they’re better than those I’ve seen elsewhere. Aldi has also plumbed massively into the customer experience… Apart from at the tills. However they’re usually pretty fast moving.
I went into the new Iceland in the old Stratford shopping centre yesterday and gosh it was quite… Clinical. massive aisles and fully stocked shelves. And yet interestingly, barely a soul in the place.
I regularly go to the Aldi in Coulsdon, went to a Lidl in Wallington and it was horrible, with quite a few things on the shelf past their use by date. Food didn’t seem as nice compared to Aldi.
They are building a brand new Lidl 200m away from my house, so I’m hoping that will be okay.
Lidl and Aldi bang next door to each other near me. The Aldi nappies are better, the dishwasher tablets have less packaging. I think it was a Lidl chorizo that gave me a bad tummy one time too (it was out of date and warm so not their fault but I can’t shake the association)
Only been in an Aldi once so I don’t have much of a comparison. Become a bit of a Lidl convert recently as there’s one at the end of my street and every time I put my shopping through the till I’m amazed at how cheap it has come to. Properly annoys me though how sometimes they seem to be completely missing the basics. Like tomato purée or salt. And they have a weird habit of having mixed pallets of stuff, like stacks of mixed tins of butter beans and chickpeas. So you have to hunt through the tins to find the chickpeas but they’ve already all gone because everyone chooses the chickpeas so all that’s left is 200 tins of butter beans.