Tuesday 8 July 2014

Bert's First Trip to London Zoo for a Picnic with Aldi...

Yesterday, Bert and I were invited to London Zoo for the day to join Aldi supermarket for a picnic in the sunshine and a chance to see and taste their new range of baby food.

We started using Aldi as our main supermarket around 1.5 months ago - before then I had popped in from time to time, but in a bid to save as much money as possible now that I'm at home with Bert, and we're a one parent earning family we decided to try Aldi on a more permanent basis. 

So far I have been very pleasantly surprised by not only the range of products (I was sure I'd only be able to get around 30-40% of my shop in Aldi, in reality I probably get around 85-90%), but also the quality of their products - I am yet to be disappointed with a single item purchased - everything we have bought so far has either matched or exceeded the quality we are used to at the other supermarket retailers. Of course, I still have to pop to Tesco for baby milk, rusks, almond milk, and a few other branded bits and bobs we can't get at Aldi - but the saving we are making is huge (I reckon we are saving around £30 a week by shopping at Aldi instead).

So, when Aldi invited me along to join their picnic at London Zoo, and to see their new baby range in the flesh I jumped at the chance - I was excited to know what is coming next in their own-brand baby range Mamia. 


We found some super-cool road names on our journey to London Zoo, and when we arrived Bert got to work tucking into Aldi's new Mamia mini apple rice cakes - yum yum! He loves these snacky foods, but hasn't got on too well with the branded version of baby rice cakes from Organix - he found them too hard, and regularly coughs and chokes on them (so I panicked and stopped giving them to him)…these Aldi rice cakes are much softer than Organix and therefore much easier for him to chew, they taste really sweet and apple-y (I tried some too, of course!) and they are only 17 calories per 3 rice cakes - so a perfect healthy snack for your little ones to chomp on. 


The lovely ladies from Aldi had put on a gorgeous spread for us to enjoy full of scrummy baby-foods, and even scrummier treats for the grown ups. 

Bert enjoyed slurping up one of Aldi's new baby food pouches which are 100% organic, and produced in the same factory as Ella's Kitchen pouches, while mummy scoffed a delicious parma ham roll, sausage roll, piece of quiche, cookie, and brioche roll (thanks Aldi, what a tasty picnic!)

Aldi's new baby food pouches in apple & banana, strawberry & apple flavours

I'm so glad Aldi are launching their own range of food pouches - it's about time that someone tried to compete with the baby food giants and important that as parents we have a choice to use convenience baby food without it bankrupting us. These pouches will retail at a significantly lower cost that it's large company contemporaries, and will therefore be affordable and practical. Aldi are also launching a savoury pouch later in the year (parsnip and carrot) … so watch this space. 

Aldi are in the process of expanding their Mamia range to include all sizes of nappies from newborn- size 6 pull ups, swimming nappies, jumbo packs of nappies and wipes, the baby food pouches, rice cakes and baby fruit juice drink (made in the same factory as the Heinz baby juice) - so make sure you head to Aldi to try out all their fab new products (some are in stores already, and other products are launching in September).

Mamia apple and blackcurrant baby juice 

It was really great to try the products out in such a fun environment, and even better for me to chat to the ladies from Aldi about the products, what's coming next for Aldi as a whole, and the Mamia baby range, as well as to share my own ideas of products I'd like to see Aldi introduce (such as their own baby porridge, rusks, biscotti and savoury baby snacks). 

Enjoying a picnic in the sun! 

How Do Aldi Keep Their Prices Low?

Aldi is still a family run business which means they don't have to answer to share holders or a board of trustees making decisions about profit margins and bonuses etc. The brothers behind Aldi still plough lots of the supermarkets profits back into the stores, ensuring they can keep customers happy with their low prices. 

The main way Aldi keep their prices low is their 'no frills' attitude to their shops - Aldi doesn't have fancy lighting or porcelain floor tiles, there's no huge beautiful display cabinets or fancy checkout equipment full to the bursting with staff to help you pack your shopping - it is basic, and functional. Aldi isn'tt pretty - it is in essence a warehouse full of food - but that is why they can afford to keep prices low. I would much rather this honest approach to food shopping than having to pay an extra £30 for exactly the same product quality, wouldn't you? 

THE ZOO

After our yummy lunch with Aldi - Bert and I explored the zoo for a couple of hours and saw some amazing sights! My favourites (as always) were the giraffes, and the aquariums. I find watching the pretty fish so relaxing, and Bert was mesmerised by them! 


Bert's little face as he calmly watched the fish in the aquariums

Bert's favourite toy is Sophie la Girafe (Sophie the Giraffe) a popular French baby toy sold on the High Street - so we took Sophie along to the giraffe enclosure for her to meet her fellow Giraffe-y friends!




Then we got up close and personal with a tiger - it was genuinely amazing - I've never managed to get so close before, and Bert was practically jumping out of his buggy to get a better look…


We saw loads of other animals too including: hippos, a camel, reindeer, otters, African hunting dogs, zebras, meerkats, monkeys, ant eaters, and all sorts of birds and insects. There was so much to see at London Zoo - we'll definitely head back there when Bert is bigger and can get even more excited about the animals.

We headed to the shop on our way out, and I treated Bert to a new furry friend who we've called Aldi…


Bert and Aldi the Tiger on the tube home! 

A big thanks to Aldi for inviting us - we're looking forward to trying all of the new Mamia products when they arrive in store, and hope you do too! 

Mrs B

xxx

Disclaimer: We were treated to a day at London Zoo, and a yummy picnic lunch courtesy of Aldi supermarkets for their launch of new Mamia baby products. All opinions expressed and images used in this post are my own.