The secret Aldi tricks and tips you need to know for your next shop
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Aldi has been named the cheapest supermarket in the UK, with more and more people turning to the German retailer to do their weekly shop.
A study by The Grocer magazine found a basket of essential items was more than 15 per cent cheaper than Asda - its nearest-price rival.
The supermarket was also named the Meat & Fish Retailer of the Year for the first time at the SuperMeat & Fish Awards 2017.
It also scooped eight trophies for its upcoming Christmas range, with Aldi’s Specially Selected Exquisite Rumburgh Farm Whole Turkey winning an accolade over more expensive rivals.
It all sounds like a good reason to investigate what exactly Aldi has to offer - and what you need to know when shopping there.
Here are a few tips and tricks to make the most out of your next visit to one of the many Aldi stores, the Leicester Mercury reports.
1. The Specialbuys section is a whole new world
There are all sorts of goods in the Specialbuys section of an Aldi supermarket. Every Sunday and Thursday, Aldi offers "an exciting new mix of top-quality, great-value products" - they're limited in stock so once they're gone, they're gone.
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
Kids seem to love annoying their parents by hiding behind the large wire-basket displays, where you can find shoes, guitars, kitchen equipment, nests of tables and lots more. But be sure to look above for the prices, not below. And if you are really budget-conscious and want to keep your supermarket shopping bills down, stick to a list and avoid this area altogether.
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
2. It's not all stacked aisles - the sandwiches are decent too
If you want to try somewhere new for your lunchtime dash, then Aldi's sandwiches are worth checking out. They are a great price - and tasted pretty good to us.
Classic sandwiches such as tuna and sweetcorn, ham and cheese, and prawn mayonaise were £1.39, limited edition sandwiches including coronation chicken, beef and horseradish, and New York deli were £1.99.
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
3. Look out for the chocolates - they're familiar brands, with unfamiliar names
Move over Snickers, welcome to Racer. And instead of Mars, you'll discover Titan.
The bars are made by Dairyfine - and they look pretty much the same and taste pretty much the same as the original versions.
4. There's some unusual offers just inside the entrance
The first time we went, there was a big stack of vintage-style record players just inside the entrance door, then we visited again and saw boxes of garden tools.
And there's always a pile of the Aldi Amazing Specialbuys magazines so you can grab one and browse at home - you'll find items such as a waffle maker (£19.99), Canon printer (£22.99), bluetooth headphones (£16.99) and men's and women's hoodies (£7.99).
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
5. Watch out for the pricing displays
In some parts of an Aldi store, the prices for items are NOT displayed directly underneath, on the same shelf. Instead they are on the shelf above - and for top shelf items the prices are on a bar high over your head.
Look at the picture here where the bread appears to be 35p - but that's actually the pricing for the Everyday Essentials bread on the shelf below. The bread next to that yellow price tag is actually 79p. If items get shoved around on the shelves, it adds to the problem even more.
We got caught out by this when quickly picking up some broccoli that was next to a price display stating 39p but found out at the till it was the organic broccoli costing £1.03. And you get little time for making any changes at the till, as you will find out below.
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
6. They sell goods in an even cheaper basics range
If you just want cheap and standard food items and aren't bothered about brands or top quality, then the Everyday Essentials range is for you. Among this range, there's a jar of jam for 28p and a jar of marmalade for 27p.
Or you can pay a bit more for branded items - that pushes the price of marmalade up to 49p for a jar made by Grandessa, which is still a bargain.
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
7. Look out for some very trendy superfoods
Flaxseed, linseed, pumpkin seeds, sesame and chia are the latest superfoods. They're full of essential nutrients and can be mixed into porridge, yoghurt or smoothies. New to Aldi is a Linseed Mix for £1.79, as well as superfood powders from the Funktional Foods range.
You can even get peanut butter with pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds (we tried it and loved it, it's priced £1.19).
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
8. But it's not all basics - they do posh stuff too
If you think Aldi is all about basics, you'd be wrong. They do some fancy foods too, in a range called Specially Selected.
For instance, there's a pack of four Rhubarb, Apple and Cinnamon Fruit Pies for 99p, four Rosemary and Seasalt Focaccia for 99p and a Superseeded Loaf for 79p.
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
9. Gluten free? No worries, Aldi's got you covered
Free-from foods are now on offer too, following a growing demand from consumers.
Brits wanting to avoid dairy or gluten have forked out an extra £230 million on free-from food and drink in the past year - a rise of more than 40 per cent - according to The Grocer. And you can find these products on the shelves at Aldi. There's gluten-free pasta, bread, muffins, cookies, crackers, soup, porridge and more.
10. The choice of fresh fruit and veg is pretty impressive
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
Budget shops might have an image of being little more than aisles of packets and cans but they do have fresh produce too.
For instance, an Aldi cucumber was 44p, a huge sweet potato 57p, Iceberg lettuce 44p, a pack of courgettes 85p and a pack of onions 47p. Every time we've visited it was being restocked while we were there, adding to the impression of freshness.
You should also keep your eyes peeled for the special Super 6 deals. These are weekly deals where six items of fruit and veg will be discounted even further, so make sure you take advantage of these if you really want to blag a bargain.
(Image: David Bentley/Birmingham Mail)
11. There's also dairy-free drinks
You can also go dairy-free at Aldi without forking out high prices for cartons of milk alternatives. It offers soya or almond priced at just 59p, about a third of the price of some cartons of dairy-free drinks.
12. And of course - be ready for the checkout
Aldi's checkout staff are legendary. They scan your shopping at lightning speed, and it really does need to be seen to be believed.
Items are rapidly flicked and flung across the checkout area before you can remove already-scanned goods - so it's like a supermarket pinball machine or skittles game gone haywire, giving even the fastest of fingers little time for getting things in bags.
Firstly, be sure to calculate how many bags you need as they are stored on shelves below the conveyor and you need to grab them before your own checkout begins. Otherwise you'll have to go back along the queue and start reaching between other waiting customers to get to the carrier bags.
But most importantly, don't even bother to pack your shopping at the checkout.
If buying more than just a few items, use a trolley, just put everything straight in when it's scanned, then go to the shelf near the exit and do your packing at a pace to suit you.