I was really excited when I was asked to take part in the Aldi Challenge as I have seen their adverts on the television promising to reduce your shopping bill without compromising on quality.
I was asked to send in a couple of receipts from previous weeks shopping and they would match up what I had bought with their Aldi own brand products.
Aldi don’t do home shopping so I assume that the items were picked at our local store and then delivered by a member of staff on their way home as I was promised delivery after 4pm and they arrived at 9.30pm in two shabby boxes.
We unpacked the shopping to find that it certainly was not a week’s shopping for our household, but we had a good selection of fresh produce and meals to choose from.
We also received some Aldi Mamia nappies and baby wipes for Sebastian separately.
.jpg "Mamia Nappies")
What was good:
The Mamia nappies (£2.99) were amazing. I have been using Huggies with Sebastian and have found that they leak badly – especially at night. With Mamia he was bone dry – even in the morning. I must admit to being a bit of a nappy snob and preferring to buy the big names, but I am now a convert – especially at that price.
I also like their own brand items for the cupboard such as Baked Beans, Tinned Spaghetti, Shreaded Wheat and Olive Oil. I use non-bio washing powder as I have sensitive skin and was sent their own brand Almat colour liquid instead. I am pleased to report that I have had no reaction to it and my clothes come out clean and fresh and at £2.49 it’s far cheaper than well known brands.
.JPG "Almat Washing Liquid")
What wasn’t so good
I have to admit that I was not as impressed with the fresh produce. The Specially Selected Sirloin Steak was very fatty and gristly and at £4.49 each piece it was no cheaper than the big four supermarkets.
The salad that was delivered was at the end of its shelf life and was limp after a day and the stir fry faired much the same and didn’t taste quite right.
Isaac and Eliza love chicken nuggets and would eat them everyday if given half a chance, but they didn’t like the Aldi ones. They had a strange texture to them and came out of the oven soggy – I even popped them back in for a bit longer to try and crisp them up but it didn’t work.
Would I shop there?
I probably wouldn’t buy my fresh food from Aldi, but Kian did enjoy his pizza, the Gammon joint was delicious and I have to say I enjoyed a glass of their wine.
Their range isn’t big enough for me to do a main shop, however, I will do top-up shops with them as I am a big fan of their nappies and they do have some amazing offers which are worth checking out. I was disappointed to miss their girls shoes which looked just like Lelli-Kelly but were just £8. I have bookmarked their home page to remind myself to check it out at least weekly. This week they have waterproof suits for the children for just £12!!
Aldi is convenient and always has new products on the shelves. There prices are reasonable and the staff helpful when needed.