AUSTRALIA | CHOICE has released the results of the second wave of its quarterly, government-funded report on supermarket prices across Australia.
In June, the consumer group visited 104 supermarkets, including Aldi, Coles, Woolworths, and IGA, again recording the prices of 14 everyday grocery items.
Since its first survey, the cost of Aldi and Coles baskets, including specials, has dropped, while the price of the Woolworths basket with specials has increased.
"When looking at prices with specials, Woolworths has slipped from second to third place in this wave of research. The Woolworths basket cost $68.37, compared to $64.93 in March. Coles, however, came down in price with our basket of 14 items costing $66.22, compared to $68.52 in March," said CHOICE CEO Ashley de Silva.
"Aldi's basket came in at $50.79, compared to $51.51 in March, and was once again the clear winner when it came to value for money.”
IGA's basket with specials was $78.95, behind the other supermarkets. This average was based on prices recorded at the 27 locations visited across the country and reflected large variations in pricing between stores of different sizes in the survey.
"Buying items on special can make a difference to overall grocery costs and reinforces the benefits of shopping around where possible. A discount on tea bags at Coles during our survey period was a major influence on the results of this survey.”
He added that CHOICE has previously found supermarket labels often confusing, making it difficult to tell if a true discount was on offer. The second quarterly supermarket survey highlighted the importance of clear, simple labelling that left the customer in no doubt about whether a product was actually on special.
For those looking to save money on their grocery shop, these are CHOICE's top tips based on our research:
Use unit pricing: Comparing prices of different-sized products from different brands can be difficult, so check the unit pricing for each product. Unit pricing allows you to compare prices based on the price per unit, such as 100g or 1L.
Shop around: If you can, switch between stores and shop at different supermarkets to take advantage of specials.
Change your routine: Swap expensive cuts of meat for cheaper alternatives, consider frozen fruit and veg, and don't be afraid to try house-brand products. These ranges outperform more expensive options at all supermarkets.
At the same time, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has called for greater transparency around the supermarket data released by CHOICE.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra said taxpayers, government, and, most notably, consumers have access to fair and transparent findings; however, several data discrepancies required clarification.
“CHOICE has confirmed that the products it has compared are not like-for-like and in the case of seven products, include comparisons between premium national brands at Coles and Woolworths and Aldi’s private label. This is not a fair or useful comparison for customers,” said Zahra.
“Customers are also being presented with a basket of only 14 items – far under-representing the weekly shop. Supermarkets range thousands of products, and Australian families are often buying triple this volume in their weekly shop. A far more robust product sample size, would also give customers a better representation of the average cost of their basket.”
Zahra added that the Federal Government has called for increased customer transparency, yet this report was anything but transparent. Customers make comparisons between supermarkets and deserve to be able to make judgments for themselves with the complete information CHOICE has collected.
“Taxpayers fund this report to the tune of $ 1.1 million, which, disappointingly, is less than transparent and continues to fall well short of the mark.”
