In the absence of the Bavarian lager, I've been trying Aldi's new Staropramen lager, and it's quite good but not as nice. It's also more expensive, at £1.49 for 660ml compared to 85p for 500ml.

However, that hasn't been in stock for a while now either, and a new one with an orange label has appeared called Schofferhofer, which is even more expensive at £1.25 for 500ml. Sadly, this isn't a patch on either of the others, and I don't consider it worth £1.25.

I also tried their Specially Selected all-butter cookies and they're lovely. And I tried their half-coated cookies, which are also very nice.

Staropramen isn't an ALDI brand. It's an international brand. You can find it on draft in quite a few pubs.
Wetherspoons sell it in bottles.

I very rarely go to Tesco, but today I was there in search of a special offer on flour (they were predictably out of stock, but I bet gallons of the stuff will magically appear on the shelves the second the special offer is over) and they have the same 500ml bottles of 5% Bavarian beer for 88p. Plenty of them in stock, and for only 3p more than the last Aldi price.

I wonder if Tesco have done some kind of deal with the supplier to block Aldi getting any? It disappeared suddenly but is still listed on the website, as though they have a supply problem rather than dropping the product. I don't see this beer in any other big UK supermarket. Lidl occasionally sell Bavarian-brand beer, but it's a lower strength version in 660ml bottles that tastes quite different (different as in inferior and not worth buying).

Tesco also have the same Staropramen bottles for 1p less than Aldi. But I'd rather line Aldi's pockets than Tesco's, even if I lose 1p in the process. Tesco turned me into a newt!

I can't answer your beer question but it's clear the big supermarkets are running scared of aldi and Lidl. Ive noticed in recent weeks prices for a lot of items are the same or cheaper in asda. And whereas about a year ago I could fill a whole trolley in Aldi and still have change left over from £30, in recent weeks I'm finding I can easily spend above 30 quid without trying.

I'm thinking of reverting the weekly shop back to asda from next week just to see whether aldi are sneakily putting up prices or asda are getting more competitive.

28 days mature rib eye steaks, really flavoursome and their lemon possets, delish!

Aldi top range croissants are very good. As good as Tesco equiv. and about 70p cheaper.

I tried some of their imitation name 'Shipsterns' bitter the other week.

It was as good as the shoddy big name non real ales, being at 3.6%.
Anyway, as an OK light summer ale I bought some more last week.

Overnight it went down from 3.6% to 2.8%, losing all of the OK taste in the process !

I tried their "Specially Selected" cheese & garlic dough balls. I wasn't that impressed, though I've never bought dough balls before.

There were 16 of them for £1.49 but they were rather chewy and not especially tasty. Next time I'll stick to garlic bread for a 5th of the price.

I also tried their 'So Soft Golden Bouquet' fabric conditioner, and it's great stuff. I usually buy Comfort Pure for 99p per bottle in Lidl's frequent half-price offers on it, but this time I ran out and there were no offers that day so I tried Aldi's.

It's just as good, but retains its smell for longer. I find with Comfort, it smells lovely when you take it out of the washing machine, but by the time you take the dry washing off the line, the smell is all but gone. With Aldi's stuff, the smell is still clear off the line, and adds a subtle smell to a bedroom for a couple of days when you fit new bedding.

Oh, and I tried their new frozen stuffed crust pizza for £2, and didn't think much at all of it. The main part of the pizza was no better than the 85p ones (they recently went up again from 79p) and the 'cheese' in the stuffed crust was more of a watery/floury/buttery paste than actual cheese. I also tried their garlic bread 'pizzas' with cheese. Lucky my pizza dish with holes in it was in the wash at the time because it produced an absolute sea of watery grease, which meant it more simmered in the baking tray than baked! if I'd used the proper pizza dish, it would have leaked all over the bottom of the cooker and given me an extra cleaning job to do.

I'll be buying neither again.

Just digressing, but I never need to clean the floor of my oven because

1. I have a heavy duty Teflon liner in the bottom, which can be whipped out and wiped clean in a jiffy. Nothing sticks to it.

2. I keep a large disposable foil roasting tray in the bottom which catches most of the drips and spills anyway.

About six months ago I bought some Carino shampoo (the one in the brown and beige plastic bottle), because it was only 44p for 500ml, had a thick, creamy texture and had a very pleasant smell. It was so good and so cheap that I used it as both a shampoo and a shower gel.

Then, much to my disappointment, it suddenly disappeared off the shelves. About a month later it suddenly came back, so not wanting to miss the opportunity I bought six bottles of it.

Now, to my horror, I've discovered that although the pack is exactly the same, the contents have now been replaced by some thin, yellow, cheap smelling crap. I'm not sure whether to see if it's any good as washing up liquid, or to give it to the local food bank, where shampoo is one of the items they're requesting.

I'd take them back and say you didn't realise it was a changed product and you're not happy with it.

Aldi did the same with their Peanut Butter (Grandessa brand), it was up there, quality-wise with the likes of Skippy (which is 3 times as expensive) The Grandessa is very poor now, oily & bland tasting, not worth buying now tbh.

I notice they occasionally sell a "Specially Selected" version of their peanut butter for twice the price. I wonder if it's the same quality for more money?

Ultimately, I think it inevitable that Aldi and Lidl will sell wonderful bargains while they're trying to steal market share from Tesco and Asda. Then offer lesser bargains when they've taken a good share of that market (which is now). Then become just as bad when they realise they aren't going to grow any bigger.

One day, Aldi will be as despised as Tesco, and the recession after that may well drive them out of the UK. But between now an 20 years time, let's enjoy the sunshine!

Fair points.
Shopping around is key for the consumer.
We've found ourselves popping to Lidl more often lately as its definitely cheaper than Aldi of late.
Some of Lidl's food is better too these days, perversely, Lidl's probably caught up on what Aldi used to be

Going by what I'm reading here, and my own experiences, it seems Aldi is gradually going through its entire range and seeking to cut costs and use cheaper ingredients etc.

I've been very disappointed of late with some of the things purchased from Aldi. Clearly the company wants to keep prices low, or improve margins, but I think it will backfire if it continues.

As in the perception that Aldi products are every bit as good as the big name brands will be lost.

Edit: I see Isambard Brunel said much the same straight after that post!

There's a difference between raising the price and reducing the quality though. If something's very good, I may well still buy it if the price goes up. But if the quality drops drastically I won't buy it at all.


That's the killer for me.

My friend's brother has lived in Germany for 20 years and refuses to shop in Aldi, says that it is cheap and nasty. He prefers to shop in the relative newcomer ...........Tesco!

I wonder if it's about breaking into new markets?

Aldi stuff has really gone down in quality.
Just as I get into a product they obviously change it, quality wise, to something less good.

It seems to be a technique, introduce a product of very high quality then some time later cut the quality but keep the price.

It's happened so often now that I know it's not a coincidence.

I am finding the same.

I went to Aldi yesterday and was quite taken aback by the behavior of their checkout operator.

I had been shopping at another shop so had a full bag of shopping in the trolley, when I went to checkout the cashier - without asking - opened the bag and started rummaging through it saying 'I'll just check theres nothing from Aldi you've put in their'

Basically called me a thief!

It wouldn't even have been theft until you left the store anyway!

I doubt staff get much in the way of training though, so assume this wasn't company policy and simply someone thinking they were being clever or proactive.

Aldi staff increasingly remind me of people who do sales as a job.

They have that air of shamelessness that you don't normally find in supermarket staff, more like Carphone Warehouse.


Apart from those staff who are downtrodden and defeated of course.

They are very strictly targeted and timed apparently, they have to scan far more items per minute than other supermarket staff.

I make a point of slowing down my packing and paying when they try and get me to go quicker. I'm paying for a service and I don't see why I should be rushed.

They even try to hurry you when theres nobody else waiting, its ridiculous.

I think that's perhaps a bit unfair. That's the way it works in Aldi. Scan quick, take your goods and pack elsewhere (of course if you can keep up, then so be it).

Yes, you're paying for a service - but it's a service you either agree to or not. If you don't like it, you can shop elsewhere, not force them to work to your own personal standards.

Tesco and the like tell staff to scan slower, or wait, so as not to intimidate the customer. If that's what you want, shop at Tesco, Asda etc.

Aldi is all about speed - especially given the shortage of tills in comparison.

There are loads of things to dislike about Aldi, but the way they operate the checkouts isn't one of them IMO.

It's the same in Germany in all supermarkets, and is accepted as normal.

The speed that is, not the unfriendly staff.