02 November 2015

Trying out some great Aldi products

Some of the Aldi products I tried last week. Lesson learnt: don't leave food out when I'm not home, it gets eaten!
Last week I was asked by A Current Affair to try some Aldi products. Now you all know that I am a big fan of Aldi, I do the bulk of all my grocery shopping at my local Aldi in Vermont South, so I was more than a little excited to try some products.

I had a giggle to myself when the list of products was sent, because the comment was "you probably already have most of these items" - how wrong the writer was - of the 10 items on the list I had one. And that one item was Blitz Mints. I love them. I buy them every month and keep them in my handbag, in my desk drawer, in the car - anywhere I spend a lot of time.

So I'll start my product review with Blitz mints. At $1.99 a tin they're cheaper than other similar mints on the market. They're nice and minty, without burning my mouth as the other brands do. And I like the tins - I recycle them into all sorts of useful things.

The other nine items, in no particular order were:

Cornflakes. 
You'd think cornflakes would be cornflakes, but I loved these, mainly because they didn't go soggy in the bowl (a big blerk to soggy cereal). They were a nice gold colour and on comparing the ingredients with other similar cornflakes on the market the main difference was the Aldi cornflakes didn't have added Vitamin E, otherwise they're pretty much the same. Now, while I loved them, my family weren't so fussed. They actually didn't like their ability to stay crunchy in milk. Would I buy these cornflakes? Perhaps once a year for a treat. We don't eat cold cereals other than wheat biscuits and bran, preferring porridge or a savoury on toast for breakfast.

English Breakfast tea bags 50 pack. 
Yes, I am a coffee drinker and I love my Aldi Expressi pods. But just lately I've started to enjoy a cup of tea now and then too. I buy and like the Aldi Diplomat tea bags, but I'd never tried the English Breakfast tea bags before. Wow! I loved the tea. It was strong and fragrant, with a distinct flavour that I quite liked. They definitely have a stronger aroma than the Twinings English Breakfast tea bags I've been using. Would I buy these tea bags? Probably, as a treat for me. I'll stick with the Diplomat tea bags for the family.

Just Organic Honey.
This one sparked a discussion on just what makes honey organic (with two suggesting that honey is organic by nature) and how can you tell if it truly is organic. Either way it is more expensive (as per the usual organic produce pattern) than the regular Aldi honey. To my untrained palate it tasted just like honey, and I wasn't alone - we all decided it was just as nice as our regular honey. Would I buy it? No, I don't think so. I like the 700g jar I'm buying now for flavour and price.

Ocean Rise Chunk Tuna Italian 95g
In small tins. What can I say? I don’t buy tuna in small tins, it is a waste of money to me but I understand why some folk do. Smaller individual sized tins are great for singles, to pack in lunch boxes, take on picnics, keep in desk drawers for emergency lunches. I tried this tuna in spring water on a cracker, straight from the can. I loved it. I'm a fan of tuna and prefer it to other fish, especially in cooking and salads. This tuna was enough for two crackers and it was a nice even colour and a lovely, flaky texture. Would I buy it? In the small cans no. I already buy the large cans to use in Tuna Surprise, Curried Tuna Slice, sandwiches and salads.

Chocoeur Hazelnut Block.
Yum! It's smooth, creamy and chocolatey and full of crunch hazelnuts. Would I buy it? Short answer: yes.

Cranberry drink.
I couldn't tell the difference between the Aldi cranberry drink and the Ocean Spray. I do occasionally buy it, when it's on sale, to make pink punch. Would I buy it in the future? Probably, to make pink punch; it's cheaper than Ocean Spray.

Just Divine chocolate biscuits.
Oh boy these are good. I've decided I prefer them to Tim Tams simply because they're a different shape and so the actual biscuit is a little chunkier. They taste nice, the chocolate coating is delicious and of course, like all Aldi products, they're a great price.

40% Choc Chip Cookies
I liked them, the family didn't. The main complaint was that they "don't taste homemade". Hmmm. I guess that could be because they're not homemade. They were full of choc chips and again were a nice chunky biscuit. Would I buy them? Probably not, I can make 5 Minute Choc Chip Cookies for a fraction of the price and my family prefers homemade.

Dishwasher tablets.
Not a fan. Sorry Aldi, but I would do a happy dance if the dishwasher powder came back. Why? Firstly the powder did a great job, better than the tablets (I'm not sure my dishwasher likes tablets). Secondly it is so much cheaper - 1 kilo of powder costs $2.19 (Coles Savings brand) and I get 45 washes from one box. Yes, I measure the powder carefully (two teaspoons of powder in the dispenser - the teaspoon measure stays in the container of powder). The tablets save three seconds to measure, but in my dishwasher they didn't clean the dishes as well as the powder and I tried three different loads. Would I buy Aldi dishwasher tablets? No, but then I won't be buying any brand of dishwasher tablets.

And that's the ten products I tried.

Overall they were good and offer great value and good savings for shoppers.

Am I suggesting you try them? No. I was asked for my opinion on the 10 products, and that's what I've given. Nine of the products were new to me, they're not a part of my normal ingredients based shopping list.

It was nice to try them and I'm grateful for the opportunity. If any of those items are on your regular shopping list then by all means try them. If you love them you'll save some money. If you don't like them, then you can simply go back to buying your favourite brands (on sale of course).

You can see the A Current Affair story here.


Follow on Bloglovin

6 comments:

  1. Omg I am one of the lucky product testers. I love Aldi too. Glad to see your responses.
    Sheridan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well done Sheridan! I just love Aldi, can't wait to do my shopping each month.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Aldi to Cath and have been doing my shop only there, the hazelnut chocolate is one of my favorite and i only buy it occasionally, nice amounts of nuts and i just love it. I tried the cornflakes a little while ago and wasnt a huge fan but didnt hate them, just not as cornflakey as other brands xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't mind the cornflakes, the boys weren't fussed though. We're not big on processed cereals, they get a Variety Pack each for Christmas and that's about it other than wheat biscuits, bran, and oats. I did enjoy the chocolate though :)

      Delete
  4. I am still waiting to try Aldi products lol!

    I enjoyed reading through your comments about these products. I am getting their catologue emailed to me to see what I am missing out on. I cant wait until they open stores here in South Australia. Bring it on!

    xTania

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. February Tania! Only a couple of months away. I'm planning the workshop at the moment, once the finer details have been confirmed I'll post the details for you. You'll love Aldi, it's a different way of shopping, and you save so much money. I just love Aldi :)

      Delete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment...I just love hearing from you!

Just a couple of things:

Please don't use your comments to advertise your business or goods for sale, any such comments will be removed.

And please include your name, ANONYMOUS POSTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED AND WILL BE RECORDED AS SPAM.