Is it just me hates supermarkets?

Having seen a recent programme on Aldi, I wouldn't buy my veg from them.  Each to his own but Tesco suits us fine.  

Didn't see the programme, what was it that put you off? only curious we tend to use Lidl, Tesco and Asda. There isnt a Sainsbury here and Morrisons is only small, M&S doesn't do it for me too expensive.  I tend to shop around for what I want and will not buy anything if it doesn't look fresh.  Just an aside, why can't pork chops in the UK  taste as good as they do from Spain/France? we have stopped buying them here they are totally tasteless, yet when we was in Lanzarote the pork chops were fantastic, big juicey and tender and the flavour Mmmm.

When I think about it it is almost always Lidl I use - it is very close, their instore bakery is excellent, and it's the only place I can find tomatoes that have any flavour.

JillwithaJay - I didn't see the TV programm either - curious to know what it was about?

There is an Asda about 4 miles away on the edge of town. But I hate big shops with shelves or even pallets stacked high. So we go the other way along the road and a 7 mile drive brings to  Booths. Small enough to have a personal touch (where the staff remember you and what you buy), but big enough to stock everything we need. Foodwise - no clothes or toys etc. 

The food is as local as possible (veg from over the border in Yorkshire and Lancashire, meat from nearer). 

Perhaps some things are cheaper in the big 4(?) supermarkets, but they're not for me.

...Goldie  has the Booths at Keswick  recovered

Opens this week!

I think that often the supermarket just reflects the manager in charge. Our Sainsburys used to be really good, well stocked shelves etc. Then the manager changed (and also the car park layout) since then it really isn't so good, so off to Tesco.

While on the subject of supermarkets, is it just me that hates the self serve checkouts? I just think that the least I can expect is not to have to do everything myself! It's just a way for supermarkets to save money on staff wages and I would rather keep someone in a job. I avoid self serve like the plague.

Booths in Keswick is a great supermarket......

ALL your food comes from the same places, the only difference is the packaging and what your mind THINKS! For instance people who like a certain supermarket will believe their food is better. It's all mind tricks just like the buy one get one free cobblers. Why not just half the price because that's what price they should be! Grr!

Yep, I hate supermarkets too, but as we have two family members who work in the trucking industry and I used to take workers to packing warehouses, we know that no matter what supermarket you go to, the food comes from the same fields, delivered to the same warehouses, taken to the same packaging plants and then delivered to different supermarkets.

On another theme, why do I not get a discount for using the self checkout tills? Surely as I have saved them wages they should pay me to scan my own items?

Hi DEBSC, I love the self serve tills, until they cannot decide if at the age of 73 I am old enough to buy booze! Why not stick a camera on them that can detect people over the age of say 30?

When I think about it it is almost always Lidl I use - it is very close, their instore bakery is excellent, and it's the only place I can find tomatoes that have any flavour.

JillwithaJay - I didn't see the TV programm either - curious to know what it was about?

It was as much about how they treat their staff, pressurising them to start work in the morning about an hour before opening times and without being paid extra, in order to fill shelves.

The issue led to 'sell by dates' being ignored and rotten food being left on the shelves, often behind newer produce.  Their produce was literally thrown on to the shelves in order to get the job done quicker.

Another issue I have with them is that I can't use my credit card there and I have a good budgeting system in place and very rarely use cash/debit cards for shopping.

Just my choice. 

Our 'local' ALDI seems to have some very happy staff. They're chatty, smiley, and very efficient - and always seem to enjoy what they're going.  The produce seems OK too, fresh stuff seems fresh, and all items are well within their sell-by dates - nearing sell-by goes in the 'discounted' cabinet.  I must admit we buy a lot of things there, these days - supplemented by the 'discounted' section at Waitrose and our local Booths (which is rather like shopping in a huge delicatessen!!!).

They are given incentives to work quickly, according to the check-out girl, who has to pass a certain number of items per minute through the scanner, but the quicker she is the more she earns, apparently.  The scanners are also different to other supermarkets, and apparently things are bar-coded on more than one side, preventing the 'turning it round and round in front of the scanner'.  Other supermarkets could learn from this.