German discount supermarket chain Aldi has been a hit with shoppers in Australia and across the world.

Aldi is famed for its budget-friendly groceries and ‘aisle of dreams’ (where shoppers can nab a miscellaneous and ever-changing array of items at bargain prices), but there’s one store policy that leaves shoppers divided.

Aldi’s checkout staff pride themselves on the speed with which they scan items, but unlike other supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths, customers are tasked with packing their groceries.

While some customers appreciate Aldi’s efficiency, others struggle to keep up.

This issue became the subject of heated debate in the UK this week, after one shopper shared a tip on social media for getting checkout staff to slow down: Just ask them to.

Aldi’s checkout staff have a global reputation for their ability to swiftly scan groceries.

But not everyone agreed with the advice, The Manchester Evening News reported.

Many argued that the correct etiquette is to place your items back in the trolley and then take your time packing them at the side of the store.

Speedy scanning benefits customers as “they get through people faster, so no long queue”, one Facebook commenter said.

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Another commenter claimed she had perfected an alternative technique.

“No need to use the shelf after the checkout. Load the heaviest items onto the conveyor first, line your trolley with your open shopping bags, then go through the checkout and put yourself items straight into the open bags in the order they come through,” Anne Woodcock wrote.

However, others thought the advice was reasonable.

“I put it straight in the basket or trolley but they are still too quick for me because of my health issues so I don’t see a huge issue in politely asking them to slow down,” Shell Roberts wrote.

Aldi gets an ‘A’ from customers, but an ‘F’ on health

Aldi has consistently scored an ‘A’ on customer satisfaction, but a study released last year found that its private-label products are the least healthy of Australia’s major supermarkets.

The FoodSwitch: State of the Food Supply report ranked the healthiness of the nation’s leading food and drinks manufacturers, with more than 32,000 packaged food items on sale across Australia analysed as part of the annual snapshot.

Aldi’s brand products were the most ultra-processed – foods that usually combine many ingredients, such as sugar, oils, fats, salt, antioxidants, stabilisers and preservatives that have also been significantly processed to promote their taste, convenience and shelf life.

Aldi also had the highest proportion of ‘discretionary’ products – foods that are not a necessary part of a person’s diet – on its shelves at around 50 per cent.