‘I spend £50 on my weekly food shop and I don’t go to Lidl or Aldi’

Digital content creator Hollie, who goes by Hollie and Life on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, revealed the six reasons behind why she shops at Tesco instead of Lidl and Aldi. Hollie is a mother of four living in Derby and the Midlands, and frequently posts daily content about her shopping hauls, everyday life, raising children, and places to dine and visit in her vicinity.

In a video from a few weeks ago titled, ‘Why I don’t shop in Aldi’, she explained she receives numerous enquiries about why she avoids Aldi and Lidl. She stated: “I’m getting asked this question a lot. I do my weekly food shop for £50 in Tesco, and then every month I go to Costco, and I spend £100 getting some essentials that are cheaper there. In total, I spend £300 a month on feeding my family of four children and myself, but it’s not just food, it’s also all cleaning products and beauty products. I get asked all the time why I don’t go to Lidl or Aldi instead of Tesco because people just assume that it’s cheaper, and I’ll tell you the reasons why I don’t.”

1. It’s not actually cheaper

Hollie remarked: “It’s very clever marketing. Lidl and Aldi thrive on their ‘we’re super cheap’ marketing. That’s their whole USP, and other stores buy into that marketing in order to get people to purchase from them by doing the ‘Aldi price match’ and things like that.” She also believes that supermarket own-brands are on par with Aldi prices, reports the Mirror.

She stated: “If you think about it, items from Aldi and Lidl are just all supermarket own-brands and they’re not often cheaper.

“There are going to be some items that are obviously cheaper in Aldi and Lidl, but then there are some items [that are] cheaper in Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, [and] M&S.”

2. She prefers having her weekly shop delivered

Hollie mentioned she has her shopping delivered and depends on this delivery rather than opting for click and collect or shopping in store. She said she spends less money having her shopping delivered to her home than if she visited the shop herself.

“I spend £3.99 a month, and that gives me unlimited deliveries after 3pm every day,” she said.

She said it saves her money on the petrol she would use travelling to and from the store.

“I’m actually saving money by getting delivery,” she added.

Tesco’s £3.99-a-month Delivery Saver plan offers unlimited free off-peak home deliveries for orders over £50, typically with a 12-month commitment. It allows one order per day and includes early access to Christmas/Easter slots, making it suitable for regular shoppers aiming to reduce delivery costs.

3. Lack of variety

Hollie said one of the reasons she doesn’t shop at Lidl and Aldi is that they don’t have everything she needs in her weekly shop. She said: “I need a store that has everything I need in it. I don’t want to go to multiple stores. I find it bad enough that I go to Tesco and Costco. I would rather just have one store.”

Hollie noted that visiting several different shops increases the likelihood of purchasing unnecessary items.

4. Quality

Whilst quality isn’t paramount for Hollie, she revealed that, on most occasions, when purchasing fruit and vegetables from Aldi and Lidl, they’ve deteriorated within a day or she’s discovered mould upon arrival home.

“That happens very quickly, and I’m not sure why that is. It’s just something that I’m noticing. And my fruit and veg from Tesco lasts pretty much the whole week, if not more than a week. I do need stuff to last that time,” she added.

5. Clubcard points

Another motivating factor for choosing Tesco is the Clubcard scheme. She highlighted that, unlike alternative supermarket loyalty programmes, Tesco Clubcard points aren’t restricted to in-store redemption.

She said: “I want to save up my clubcard points and use them for Merlin passes or days out with the kids or money off my insurance, or something else. I’m not bothered about getting a free packet of potatoes. I think Clubcard points are great.”

6. She knows the shop

Hollie stated that she’s quite accustomed to shopping at Tesco, having done so for many years. She expressed that she’s familiar with the products and knows her preferences.

She mentioned that she plans to conduct a comparison shop where she will purchase identical items in Aldi and Tesco, and possibly a few other supermarkets, to evaluate the price differences and determine whether the choice of supermarket truly matters.