Lidl - Deals, yea/meh/nay and observations

Lidl entered the US grocery market on the East coast in 2017. They have been expanding and now have stores from Georgia to New Jersey.

Not familiar with Lidl? They are a German discount grocery with similarities in price and products to Aldi. The stores Lidl has opened have been bigger and brighter than the traditional Aldi footprint. Lidl has built many of their stores very close to existing Aldi shops - next door in at least one instance! Aldi seems to be responding with bigger, newer stores.

Seems like a win/win for the consumers!

https://www.lidl.com/

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For lunch I heated up one of Lidl’s frozen red curry meals. I was very surprised. It had the right heat, baby carrots, baby corns, snow peas, chicken and wide noodles. $4

Plus my third trip, .79 whole pineapple, about $20 in cheese, 6 cccookies in the bogo bakery, bag of avocado, sweet baby tomatoes, a puff pastry chicken pot pie, 2 pkgs extra firm tofu, bags of chips, green tea, couple of bags of frozen cut fruit and a handful of dark chocolate set me back a very reasonable $40. Left with another $5 off coupon towards my next trip.

I was thrilled with my visit to Lidl today (Raleigh, NC)!

They have several products in stock by Les Trois Petits Cochons!

I purchased Saucisse aux fines Herbes and Saucisse de Toulouse at $3.99 each. Each refrigerated pack has 6 sausages, total weight 16 oz. They had two varieties of pate, one truffled and the other Grand-Mere style at $4.99 for 5.5 oz. TJ used to carry mousse by this company - not sure if they still do.

Lastly they had roast duck halves for $8.99. My Costco occasionally has two halves by Maple Leaf Farms for around $16. As a solo cook I like being able to purchase just one. I’m interested to see how this compares to the Maple Leaf.

I was overcharged a few weeks ago. I saved the receipt and took a photo on my phone of the items in question. I addressed it with the cashier*, she called over a manager and I was given the difference in cash with no fuss. Easy peasy!

*I had brought it to a manager attention on a prior visit and was directed to go through any cashier line to get it taken care of. At that point I did not have time/inclination to go back through a line.

Edit: The Les Trois Petit Cochon products seem to be a special Lidl only purchase. They are not listed on the makers website list of products.

Interesting to observe the development and interest in the US. In (developed) European countries Lidl is muuuuch better than Aldi on all levels (at least I think so). Aldi, on the other hand, is becoming less popular between the two. Not to mention fewer locations and Lidl the other way around.

What’s the holiday range is called there? Here it’s “Delicieux”.

Check out what’s on sale this week in Germany and Belgium.

https://www.lidl.de/de/zauberhafte-weihnachten-mit-deluxe-ab-03-12/c23378

A few years back I was visiting an old German friend living in Switzerland where I saw adverts for Swiss Lidl’s christmas products. Wow. On par with France. We are still in the dark ages or food hell in comparison.

Me too.

We visit both periodically - both for bargain shopping and for products not often seen in mainstream British supermarkets. Both have branches within five minutes drive or so. We are always more successful at Lidl. It’s already sorted us out for some Xmas festive eating - christmas pudding and cake - and a couple of goose crowns for Boxing Day.

Most of the holiday items (mainly sweets) seem to be under the “Favorina” label.

Aldi has been in the US for a good 30 years. Most of their stores that I have seen are older, smaller, darker and rather bleak. The Lidl locations are larger, brighter (natural and artificial light), a nicer shopping experience. more national brands.

The Lidl in my town has been open about 18 months. I’m there 2-3 times per month. Almost every visit I see changes they have made. Some items like lamb have disappeared. I think it is taking them a little time to understand the US market but they are observing and adapting. My location is having some issues - no longer well staffed and housekeeping standards have slipped. On a national level Lidl has slowed their expansion quite a bit from their initial projections.

I’ve tried to compare items I buy frequently from Aldi’s with similar items from Lidl. Each store does some things better. My Aldi is very clean, has a fast turn over of goods and is well run. They have stayed quite busy. Which says a lot since they they are competing with a a newer store with much more goods offered!

It will be interesting to watch how this plays out!

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Aldi in the US is much nicer imo than Aldi in France.

I adored Lidl and can’t wait til they expand to Florida! (Rumors are.flying that they’re looking at real estate)

I eat my fair share of salmon. I’m going to give the two piece pack I purchased from Lidl a meh. My prep was very simple a bit of olive oil, a sprinkle of dried herbs and into the oven. My usual quick fix. The salmon tasted kind of bland. The salmon flavor was so mild it could have been any white fish. Call me disappointed. $8 for 2 pcs.

Costco is a better value on salmon and I think buying the larger piece, cutting it up myself and having the benefit of fresher turnover is more appealing.

The duck packs are a big YEA. All the joy without the whole duck headache. I made 24 duck eggrolls from two packs.

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:grinning:

The frozen fruit: mango, pineapple, peach, raspberry and strawberry at $1.99 each are all excellent. Fruit is in tact, fresh tasting and working out very well as puree and shakes.

pomegranates were marked down to .79 each, I bought twelve for simple syrup.

3 pack salami/pepperoni for $9.99 tried with the gang tonight.

All YEA.

Oh my! This was delectable! I think it was tastier than the Maple Leaf Farms brand.

Are these ducks frozen, refridgerated, hot?

They are fully roasted half ducks, vacuum packed and refrigerated. Similar to :image

Thanks…good price. Do they have ducks that are not roasted?

I don’t think that brand ( Les Trois Petits Cochons ) produces an uncooked duck.

I have not noticed if Lidl does - I suspect it would be seasonal. I’ll try to look next time I am in.

I’ve had a lot of success my last few trips and considering putting it in my regular shopping rotation. Even though I have a ShopRite within a mile, it took nearly the same amount of time to drive across town and shop at lidi because it takes at least 20 minutes to get through the checkout at ShopRite on the weekends!!! Today, I bought the following (organic): broccoli, quart of greek yogurt, eggs, gallon of milk, 2 lbs 93% ground beef, 1 lb chicken breasts

Non-organic: grated mozz cheese, 2 papayas, bag of mandarin oranges, bag of shallots, acorn squash, bag of Brussel sprouts, huge bag of kale, bunch of bananas. Maybe one or two other things that I am blanking on. Total $45 after a $5 off coupon. That is a great price for all of that.

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Where is your Lidl?

Hazlet NJ. It just opened a few weeks ago.

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Stopped by today for a small card game party haul. Grabbed one papaya after raves from @gracieggg. Then nabbed jarred olives, and roasted peppers, chips, raspberry sorbet, whipped cream cheese, sliced turkey and ham, foil, ccookies from the bakery and a few mangoes. $22 with $5. coupon.

I probably will be visiting Aldi less often. I just enjoy shopping at Lidl more.

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I am obsessed with the papayas. Hope you got a good one!!!