Quality at Discounters

Just found this web site that shows where products that are sold by ALDI, LIDL etc. originally come from. A lot of their products actually come from well known companies that produce "Markenartikel" and the quality of the products is exactly the same only at a cheaper price.

http://www.lebensmittelmarken.de/

Yes, I remember a TV program in the UK years ago looked at exactly the same thing (but with UK suppliers/supermarkets) and found the same thing. What you're paying for (usually) is the packaging...more people realise this now and this is why Lidl, Aldi, et al are doing well.

Here's another site that gives lots of info about the manufacturers of foodstuffs:

Handelsmarken - Produzenten und Hersteller

Must admit I always do my weekly shop at Lidl and what I can't get there I go to Mini Mal. End up spending the same sometimes on 5/6 items in Mini Mal as I do for my whole week shop in Lidle.

One typical example is that all the 'cheapo' supermarkets sell the same kind of chocolate bars, just with slightly different packaging. Recently ALL of them raised the price from 0.29 to 0.35. I suspect the single producer raised the price, maybe because of cocoa prices.

:excl: We do buy other things, not just chocolate - this is just one concrete example :excl:

I would love to go to Lidi, Penny, etc. all the time - unfortunately real kauf accept Visa/Mastercard/Am. Ex. so the plastic gets used to buy the same 'more expensive stuff'. We just put off paying for it... :$

most Lidl's and Penny's take EC card, if you have one

Yeah, but when I compare prices, the "TIP" items at Real/Extra aren't any more expensive than Aldi/Lidl, sometimes cheaper.

At Real/Extra, you can pay with Amex, so it gets charged later, in one go, to the bank account, and earns you AMEX points -- A turnover of €300/month pays the yearly charge, and I also use it for petrol, clothes, travel, etc. There is quite good travel insurance included, and your purchases are insured against loss or damage for 90 days. When you have a Payback card, you also get the points from that.

On the whole, I tend to do the week's shopping at Real, because I can get everything in one go, and satisfy the occasional need at Extra, because it's just across the road.

The main problem with the discounters, apart from Aldi only taking cash, is that they tend to have large packs. So even if these are a bit cheaper, as a single, you end up throwing stuff away -- If you only need half the tin, it needs to be less than half the price of the smaller tin to be wothwhile. There just isn't that big a price difference.

Of course, you can tour round the shops buying everything from special offers, but that takes time and petrol...

...if you have money in your account :$

The only problem I succumb to in real kauf is the choice of other goods available. TIP products are good value, but the DVDs, CDs, magazines, clothes, etc. are always beckoning and calling to me! At Lidl or Penny the weekly offers are hit or miss depending on what they have.

We have certainly got a few useful items from payback points, but I don't go to real, etc. for that 'perk'. Please give me payback points on cheap petrol at real!!!

I used to have a tour around all the discount supermarkets and I've also realised it's a false economy most of the time. Time and petrol get eaten up rather quickly.

Besides BMW and Seimens, ALDI is one of the most recognizable brands in Germany ...

Not true! You can go overdrawn by using your EC Card, no problem.

Try the ALDI beer test on your guests.

Pour glass of ALDI lager from its rather horrible plastic bottle into a decent beer glass. Do the same with a quality beer. Then ask your guest which he prefers without showing the bottles. With any luck it'll be the ALDI beer. You can then serve your guest with the cheap lager all night without feeling guilty. Leaving the good stuff for yourself.

Works best on a hot day and then you can really chill the beers in the fridge. It's pretty hard to tell the difference even for the hardened beer monster.

sIEmens


Depends on your agreements with your bank

So no Visa or Maestro at ALdi or Lidl ? Damned ... I'm coming over to work in germany for a year but I will remain on my belgian contract + All my finances (loan, bank acoounts, savings, taxes, official address) are in Belgium. So I really don't wanna be shifting around all my finances just for a year ...

But I see it's gonna be a hassle, just like it is in Holland for the moment (working on a project here as well ).

Yep, there is overdrawn, very overdrawn, extremely overdrawn and "geht nicht mehr" :$