Aldi Aquav Stress Therapy Herbal Bath Soak

75p for 750ml. This is a decent quality bath foam - not a budget one, and compares with Tesco own brand Revitalising Bath foam, which is slightly cheaper at 90p for 1l, and the brand leader Radox, which is generally at least twice as much; even though there are deals available at around £1 or less for 500ml, that is still way more expensive. 

This foams up nicely, and makes the water feel soft. The foam lasts a decent amount of time.The aroma is an invigorating mineral quality. Not a girly or flowery scent, but not particularly masculine either - more of a neutral healthy mineral and medicine aroma. It's quite a strong aroma, not particularly pleasant, but quite acceptable, and in keeping with a Radox type bath product. 

This is not a product I would seek out, but I'd be quite happy to buy again if in Aldi. 


Score: 5

Aldi Choceur Creamy Dark

99p for 200g. This is edible and sweet, but doesn't taste much like chocolate, more like chocolate flavoured vegetable fat. It is a solid chocolate, but the mouth experience is more like a soft inside, almost a mouse. I was surprised on looking at it to see it was solid all the way through. There is something about it which kind of hints at Galaxy chocolate, but this is darker, less luxurious, and tastes of imitation chocolate rather than the real thing. The smoothness is the key to this product, and if you like your chcolate to be smooth above all else, then you'll like it. It's certainly edible, but it's not that yummy, and feels somewhat over-priced.


Score: 3

Aldi Specially Selected Traditional Scottish All Butter Shortbread Asortment

£1.75 for 280g, so a decent price. But when opening the box the biscuits looks very pale and bland. Fair enough. Then when eating them they are very sugary. Too sugary. So I check the sugar content compared to other All Butter Shortbread. Aldi is 29g per 100g. Sainsbury 23.5g. Tesco 16.8g. Walkers 16.5g. Morrison 15.5g. 

Way too much sugar. Never again. If I want to spoon sugar into my mouth, it's cheaper and healthier to do it direct from the sugar bag than to rub it into fat (butter) first.

There's little actual awareness of biscuit, it's mostly sugar and butter. 

Score: 2

Aldi Soupreme Kitchen Creations Broccoli & Stilton Soup

65p for a standard 400g can.  This is nice. All natural ingredients, and a good balance between cheese and broccoli to produce a flavoursome, fresh tasting and satisfying soup. This is not a budget own brand soup - at 65p it is more expensive than Tesco (45p), Sainsbury's (50p)  and is the same as Asda. It is cheaper than Heinz, Baxters and Crosse & Blackwell, which are generally over a £1, but they can sometime be bought on offers at the same or less than Aldi's price.

The more I am looking closely at Aldi's range, the more I am thinking that I am quite happy to shop at the bigger supermarkets, especially Tesco and Asda, which offer a greater range of choice, and overall work out cheaper. I particularly like shopping at Tesco using the loyalty card system, where I scan the products as I shop, and pack them into bags straight away in my trolley so there's no waiting at the checkout, and after paying I simply go straight to the car. The checkout system at Aldi is awkward and slightly stressful because the staff go through very quickly, and there's no space to pack, so if you're not quick you have to simply put everything back into the trolley and move to a shelf where you pack. This favours the company, but does not favour the customer. And I dislike that. It doesn't make me feel good.

I also like the extra discounts I get from the loyalty cards, and the cheap petrol avaialble at the big supermarkets.

At this stage I am wondering what exactly Aldi have got that makes people shop there on a regular basis.

Score: 6

Aldi Holly Lane Bramley Apple Pies

75p for a box of six (355g). I am liking the Holly Lane brand - it's the Aldi equivalent of Mr Kipling, which range from 95p (Asda)  to £1.50 (Morrisons). Tesco's own brand is the same price for about the same weight. These are fairly standard British Bramley apple pies. There is no surprise here. They are sweet and juicy and quite fresh tasting. I have liked all the Holly Lane products I have tried so far.

While I was checking the prices, I looked into the nutrition content (not something I regularly do, but I wondered about the sweetness of these Holly Lane products). It turns out they are not healthy. They contain more fat and sugar than either Mr Kipling or Tesco. And that combination of fat and sugar in a processed food is the main cause of obesity in children.

Much as I like these Holly Lane products, having checked out the facts, I can't see myself buying them again.

Update: I don't know where I got the above information from, but on doing the Apple Pie Taste Test, I looked at the information on all the boxes, and discovered that Aldi is fairly average compared to the others.  Aldi apple pies are tasty and excellent value.


Score: 8

Apple Pie Taste Test

Aldi Soupreme Chunky Soup Vegetable

65p for a standard 400g size can. Soupreme is a dreadful brand name for canned soups. Especially if the packaging is going to be so dour and basic. If the packaging was going to be fun and ironic, then they might get away with the pun, but as it is it looks like they are taking it seriously. I'm also unclear on why, when they have the Corale brand for tinned goods, they create another brand just for soups. Unless it's to give the impression that there is more brand name choice in Aldi than there actually is. After all, they have a different brand name for pretty much every product line they do. I suppose if people went into a supermarket and saw nothing but own brand products on offer, they might feel there was a lack of choice. Personally I'm OK with buying own brand products - that's what we tend to do when shopping at the big supermarkets anyway. But even a dedicated own brand shopper like me might baulk at entering a shop and seeing so little real choice, and having nothing to compare with. In the main supermarkets, such as Tesco, you get the main brands and a selection of own brands. Tesco Everyday Value Vegetable Soup is 25p. Tesco Vegetable Soup is 45p. Tesco Healthy Living Three Bean and Vegetable Soup is 49p. Crosse And Blackwell Hearty Vegetable Soup is normally 79p but is on offer at 50p. Heinz Vegetable Soup is 95p. Baxters Vegetarian Country Garden Soup is £1.10. And there are plenty more. So I have more to try, and can suit my purchase to my budget and personal taste.

This soup tasted thin and watery, and the veg was texture rather than flavour - lumps that dissolved, and tasted of tinned processed veg. Not a pleasant experience, and rather expensive for what it is. If I wanted a basic cheap soup, and didn't care about the price then the Tesco Everyday Value at 25p would work as well. For better flavour and still cheaper than Aldi the standard Heinz Vegetable Soup at 45p is looking something of a bargain. 

Score: 2

Aldi Specially Selected Buffalo Mozzarella & Semi-dried Tomato Pizza

£2.99 for a "hand-stretched" medium sized pizza in Aldi's Specially Selected range. The shape is a little different, and adds to the initial attraction, but was a little awkward to cut as I'm more used to round pizzas. The base is a bit heavy and doughy, which reminded me of why pizzas are round - they are thrown into the air to ensure that excess moisture is removed so the dough doesn't become, well, heavy and doughy..... So, nice shape, shame about the taste!


There's not a lot going on here. There's a lot of dough, and not much in the way of flavour. Yes, there is attractive tomato paste flavour - quite sweet and tomato tasting, and the pats of cheese are nice, but it doesn't add up to much. I'd appreciate some herbs and a bit more seasoning and a bit more cheese. Sometimes we buy cheap cheese and tomato pizzas for around 50p and add our own herbs, olive oil, and topping - that works well. And sometimes, being lazy, we'd just heat up the cheap pizza and eat them without adding anything. They work well enough as a snack, as picnic food, and as part of a larger meal. If paying £2.99 I'd expect the pizza to pretty much stand up for itself. This doesn't.

If you like heavy doughy pizza with some sweetness on top, but not much cheese or flavouring, then this'll work for you.

Score: 3