Sophie Calderwood was stunned when she sat down to eat her No Sausage & Bean Bake for lunch and realised it was missing its filling.
The 26-year-old purchased the frozen bakes from Aldi in Livingstone, West Lothian, the day before, but was left feeling ‘annoyed’ by the lack of veggie sausage and beans.
After demolishing one of the flaky bakes in the hope of the filling being in there somewhere, Sophie decided to cook the other one in the air fryer.
The postwoman was left disappointed when the second bake was also just puff pastry casing with zero filling.
The product is described on the Aldi website as seasoned soya protein pieces, haricot beans and a vegan cheese alternative wrapped in puff pastry.
Sophie, who’s been vegan for four years, says the product used to be one of her favourite veggie alternatives but she’s now reluctant to buy them again.
The postie contacted Aldi on social media and says a customer service representative suggested she go to her store for a refund, but she ‘didn’t bother’ as the pastries cost just 99p.
Sophie, from Blackness in Scotland, said: “I cooked them in the air fryer and I went to take a bite out.
“You can usually feel when there’s something inside a pastry. It just felt really light, I didn’t feel anything in it.
“I ate one of them and I just assumed that it [the filling] was going to be there every other bite that I took but there was nothing there.
“I cooked the other one in the packet and cut it in half to see if it was the same and it was, both of them didn’t have any filling.
“They’re the ultimate veggie and sausage bean bake – there was no filling in them at all.”
After realising the product was missing its filling, Sophie says she was left feeling ‘annoyed’.
Sophie said: “It was just annoying because they are really tasty.
“The bakes are really good, but when they’ve got nothing in them they’re so dry and disgusting.
“They’re something that I would usually buy from Aldi often.
“I probably won’t buy them again because there’s no point if there’s a chance that you’re not going to have anything in them.
“You can’t tell until you cook them and at that point it’s a waste of money. They were one of my favourite veggie products beforehand.”
Sophie says a member of Aldi’s online customer service team suggested she return the product to her store for a full refund.
Sophie said: “I sent them a message on social media with a picture of the actual box and that’s when they replied.
“I didn’t bother going into the shop about it because it’s kind of embarrassing to walk up – especially in Aldi because there’s nobody about until you’re at the till.”
An Aldi spokesman said: “When we said, ‘no sausage and bean’, this isn’t quite what we had in mind.
“We have apologised to Miss Calderwood that this product did not meet our usual high standards and have encouraged her to return it to her nearest store where she can receive a full refund.”
