I went to Lidl early in the morning and paid £3 for 115 items of food

Wales Online

2 days ago

I went to Lidl early in the morning and paid £3 for 115 items of food
Food shopping is a necessary expense, and we're all on the hunt for ways to save a few quid where possible.
I bagged around £20 worth of food for £3
(Image: Ray Bonsall/Liverpool ECHO )
Food shopping is an essential outgoing, and we're all searching for methods to trim a few pounds wherever feasible. From preparing shopping lists to being tactical about your choice of retailer, there are numerous approaches to maintain control over your weekly grocery expenses.
‌
Constantly seeking out excellent value, astute shopping correspondent Ray Bonsall was delighted to learn that Lidl provides a container of mixed fruit and vegetables for merely £1.50. These containers supply an assortment of 'too good to waste' produce at a substantially reduced cost.
‌
Ray explained: "Always on the lookout for a good bargain, I was excited to learn that Lidl sells a box of mixed fruit and vegetables for just £1.50. The boxes offer a selection of 'too good to waste' items for a much cheaper price, reported the Liverpool Echo.
‌
"I've tried my luck with other anti-food waste schemes before, including the Too Good To Go app, which allows shops, cafes and restaurants to sell surplus food for a much lower price. I've generally found them to be generous and well worth the cost, so I was keen to give Lidl's box a try."
She added, "I set my alarm bright and early for 7 a.m., keen to avoid the boxes selling out. I arrived at the Lidl on Lime Street at 8:30 a.m. However, a friendly colleague told me to come back in 45 minutes as they were still preparing the fruit and veg. I was surprised that there didn't seem to be anyone else waiting around for the boxes."
I set my alarm bright and early for 7am to get myself a box of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50
(Image: Ray Bonsall)
Article continues below
Ray was taken aback to find no one else waiting for the boxes. While she waited, she decided to try her luck at the Lidl on London Road, but was told there were no boxes available.
A staff member clarified that while the boxes are typically available daily, they had a large stock assessment the previous day, selling around 20 boxes, meaning they didn't have any surplus stock today. However, he noted that most days boxes go on sale at around 8:30am.
Ray continued, "I went back to Lime Street, and at around 9:15am, the boxes were ready. They hadn't been put out but I asked a colleague who brought two out for me having remembered that I'd been by earlier on. It seems it's worth double checking with staff if you can't see any displayed.
‌
"I bought two boxes, which were £1.50 each, bringing my total shop to £3. It seems it's worth having a word with staff if you can't see any on display. I purchased two boxes at £1.50 each, bringing my total spend to £3.
"When the boxes arrived, I was overwhelmed by how much was inside. I could barely carry the two boxes, which were overflowing with a wide variety of fruit and vegetables from apples to aubergines.
The amount of fruit and vegetables I got from for £3 from two of Lidl's 'Too Good to Waste' boxes
(Image: Ray Bonsall/Liverpool ECHO )
‌
"Taking a closer look at the produce, all of the items were still fresh, and most had a good few days left in them. A few items, like some of the peppers and the courgettes, were smaller than normal shelf stock, and the aubergine was on the riper side."
Ray observed that the carrots were also on the smaller side, and some had taken a bit of a battering, but they remained completely fresh and perfect for cooking. The remaining produce was exactly what you'd anticipate from any standard fruit and vegetable retailer.
Several of the peppers were enormous. The apples and even the bananas were spotless and ideally ripe.
‌
Here's everything I received in each box:
Box 1
Four bananas
Six red apples
One aubergine
One small courgette
One celery
Three large bell peppers (red, orange and yellow)
Approximately 20 small potatoes
Approximately 20 small carrots
Box 2
‌
Five bananas
Six green apples
One aubergine
One courgette
Five peppers (mixed sizes)
One celery
Approximately 20 potatoes (mixed sizes)
Approximately 20 small carrots
A generous handful of green chillies
The peppers varied in size but were still great value
(Image: Ray Bonsall/Liverpool ECHO )
Using Tesco's website, she worked out that buying the identical items in the first box would have cost her around £8.01. The second box would have totalled roughly £11.84. Therefore, for just £3, she managed to secure nearly £20 worth of shopping.
Article continues below
Ray concluded: "This doesn't take into account some of the smaller sizes, however, I still walked away feeling like I had secured a great amount of food for what I spent. Anything I don't use in the next few days I'll stick in the freezer.
"It's also a great way of encouraging people not to dismiss food just because it is doesn't look the biggest or shiniest. A small pepper is still a pepper after all.
It also saves endless thinking about what to eat and for the next week my meal planning will be dictated by what's in the box - so far aubergine curry, baked potatoes, potato salad, fried courgette spaghetti and carrot soup spring to mind."