Comparing prices for grocery shopping

Re: Aldi/Lidl

Delboy - thanks for your comments.

Why buy foreign meats/milk/veg in Aldi when you can get the Irish equivalent.

Because the foreign alternative is cheaper? That's generally my approach anyway. I don't expect people to buy software that I write just because it's hand crafted in Ireland!

Anyway, the article went on to state that the politicians have little or no means of forcing Aldi/Lidl to appear before them. "Good" I say.
 
quality and choice

totally agree Clubman !
why should Irish residents be forcefed inferior and expensive "irish" products !
why can't we learn to buy the best quality at normal european prices like every one else in F, NL, D etc.

of course these people will then be the first to complain about the decreasing Irish food export markets too !!

Laoise
 
Re: quality and choice

I'm all for "Buy Irish" but I suspect the Aldi/Lidl hubbub has more to do with attempts to supress competition than a "buy Irish" campaign. The large Multiple retailers had a a nice little cosy market to themselves for years and they could get away with (a) charging what they like because no-one knew any better, and (b) ripping off farmers and suppliers.

Is it a coincidence that people have begun to notice both (a) and (b) around the same time?
 
Re: Aldi/Lidl

I also believe you should buy Irish where possible, but I also believe that the Irish consumer is being ripped off.
Aldi and Lidl have also created jobs also. Competition should be fair game. For instance the potatoes in Lidl are Irish but are much cheaper than Tesco’s, Dunne’s etc.. These supermarkets have more buying power that Lidl, why the vegs so expensive.
As Laoise mentioned some of the breads are nicer and cannot be got in the other supermarkets.

I agree most people did back the farmers but again the supermarkets are making the profits at the benefit of the consumer. I have on occasion bought potatoes directly from a farmer and if farmers were given the licence to slaughter, I would also buy my meats directly from them.
 
Aldi

PadraigL - you can always buy an animal and arrange with a butcher to have it cut up for you as some people in the country do.

I agree with the fact that Irish produce can be bought cheaper in Aldi etc than Irish supermarkets and I think this is wrong. The supermarkets should be challenged on this but of course this is Ireland, home of incapable governments.

But I bet that if you do your weekly shopping in Aldi etc you'll end up buying a majority of foreign produce. And for a few quid more I'll shop in the Irish supermarket where I can buy more Irish products, but thats just me - everyone to their own.....
 
Re: Aldi

The supermarkets should be challenged on this but of course this is Ireland, home of incapable governments.

I would see the challenge as coming from customers rather than the Government. After all, we can't really expect the Government to introduce price controls and the like in this day and age. Aldi/Lidl have introduced a welcome element of price competition to the market here. Hopefully if/when the established stores lose custom to them they will be forced to react. Interesting how the recent reaction of Tesco to the supermarket price wars in the UK did not extend to Ireland... :|

But I bet that if you do your weekly shopping in Aldi etc you'll end up buying a majority of foreign produce. And for a few quid more I'll shop in the Irish supermarket where I can buy more Irish products, but thats just me - everyone to their own.....

I agree - each to their own. However you seem to be saying that you would like the established stores to charge prices akin to those charged by Aldi/Lidl for example but you are willing still willing to spend more for the option of being able to choose from a wider range of local produce. Seems a little contradictory to me...
 
Aldi

Don't see anything contradictory there. I was pointing out that while aldi may stock a few Irish items the majority of goods are from abroad. I'll stick to Irish supermarkets for my weekly shopping as they carry more Irish products over the broad range. It might cost more but so be it. I know I'm supporting Irish jobs to an extent

Also with regards to Irish supermarkets overcharging - I don't believe that boycotting will make a difference to their prices as not enough people will do so. That's Ireland. What I would envisage in this 'Country of Reports and Tribunals' is a study of prices to see who is making the profits. The farmers say it's not them and the supermarkets likewise, allthough I think we all know who is to blame . I agree price controls are'nt feasible so maybe someone else out there has a solution
 
Aldi

I would hazard a guess that not a huge number of consumers would be aware of the price differentials that exist between Aldi/Lidl and Dunnes/Tesco etc (although I have no doubt the number is growing). I also accept that for a family shop it is unlikely you could do a full shop in Aldis etc (although again this is changing). Wouldn't it be very interesting, however, if one of the national papers compared the prices of own brand products in Tescos etc. to those in Aldi/Lidl? This would increase public awareness and may, ultimately, lead to the big stores reducing their prices.
 
Re: Aldi

Heard 5-7 live tonight when they did a price comparison (hmmm...I wonder if they can get AAM in Donnybrook?) between Aldi, Tesco and Marks and Spencer.

Fairly unscientific stuff but they picked out 11 products and bought them in each store. (included milk, 6 free range eggs, chicken, sliced pan, teabags and other similar staples).

Aldi beat the others on price by a long shot and had the HIGHEST proportion of Irish products among those sampled (8 out of 11 products were Irish-produced).

tedd
 
Re: Aldi

Aldi beat the others on price by a long shot and had the HIGHEST proportion of Irish products among those sampled (8 out of 11 products were Irish-produced).

Now that's interesting!
 
Lidl

Well - time to suck it & see!
We decided to do a chunk of the weekly shopping in Lidl for the first time today. Came out weighed down with grocery's for 78euro. Some real notable diffs when we subsequently went to Supervalue afterwards. Look at this for just some comparisons.....
Code: 
[u]Item           Lidl  Supervalue[/u]
Sugar          0.83        1.08
Kiwi 6pk       1.09        1.50 (Lidl ones were hard-prob not ripe yet)
6 lrg eggs     0.81        1.26
Beans          0.22        0.54
Tomato 6pk     1.19        1.99
2ltr milk      1.19        1.69
2pk tooth brsh 2.49        2.50 each (similar type/style)
diff so far here is around 5 euro - which is significant for just 7 line items out of around 40 bought today.

I'll revert later with the taste tests & more price comparisons as they come available.

N3000
Edited by ClubMan to fix tabular data layout.
 
comparing prices

in the interests of research, and to satisfy my own curiousity, 'she who must be obeyed' recently compared prices at Lidl (10/1) with those at Tesco (17/1). The basket of 24 food items covered bread, tea bags, sugar, wine (hic!), crisps, vegetables etc. In all cases the prices at Lidl were cheaper. The total cost of the Lidl basket was €33 against that of €53.59 at Tesco. This is a saving of c60%. The saving is actually greater because in some cases I'm comparing, say, 3 packets of fruit juices in Tesco against 5 in Lidl, 6 packets of crisps in Tesco against 8 in Lidl. I should also say that 2 of the items were on special offer in Lidl and resulted in huge savings ie carrots .49c v 1.58 and onions .49c v1.69.

Again its a question of try and see- I'm not mad on their pizzas or garlic bread, the kids love their crisps and fruit juices. If your not satisfied with any of their products Lidl will give you a refund. The message is clear- the bigger your family the greater your savings!
 
another thing to consider

One other way of getting good value is to buy your fruit and veg at the green grocer rather than at the supermarket. In general they are miles cheaper.
 
Re: another thing to consider

Well - here's some verdicts......

All fine thus far....
Milk, Eggs, Burger buns, Orange Juice (the saft version of course), oranges, Apples, Bananas, White Grapes, pork medalions, frozen peas, crisps, biscuits,

The kiwis, were rock hard & bitter - probably under ripe so we'll give them another few days.

The min saving is 25% & in some by 50%. This is really amazing.

We'll be voting with our feet from her on in. Even though Lidl is a little out of our way we have decided now to make it our primary choice for grocery shopping.

Anyone believe that there is some stuff that should be generaly avoided?

Wouldn't really have even considered tyring it out without reading peoples contribution to this discussion - thank You all for stopping us from being continually ripped off.

N3000
 
Lidl

Just two things I have found so far that were not worth re-purchasing;

Feta cheese (was a bit tasteless)
Toilet roll (much to thick for privately owned septic tanks)

Everything else I have tried so far is pretty good.

Lidl in Arklow, Co Wicklow.

Jane
 
Re: Lidl

Their fruit and nut choc bars are very nice especially out of the fridge............
 
Re: Lidl

How is their meat?
Is it produced in Ireland?
 
Aldi coming to Clondalkin

Just having a look at planning permission submissions and I came across
 
Re: Aldi coming to Clondalkin

Missie25......

The country of origin on some products in Lidl is not that obvious - I actually thought is was mandatory. I don't have something in front of me here but some labels (on biscuits for exmpl) would say something like.

"specially packed for Lild Kildare & Lidl UK"

The fresh meats have an "IRL' or "UK" sticker referrencing some EU number. Those in the know may be able to expand furher....

N3000
 
Re: Aldi coming to Clondalkin

The [broken link removed] and [broken link removed] might be of interest.
 
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