New national research has found essential groceries are 25% cheaper at Aldi than at Coles or Woolworths.
Consumer group CHOICE compared the prices of the same 14 everyday items at supermarkets around the country.
The Government commissioned CHOICE to investigate and monitor grocery prices amid several ongoing supermarket inquiries.
CHOICE will publish updated findings every three months.
Here’s what its first report shows.
Background
In January, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced plans for “clear and regular information” to be made public on “prices across a basket of goods.”
Albanese noted “it can be hard for people to find the best deal” across “thousands of products” on supermarket shelves.
“The Government will fund consumer organisation CHOICE to provide shoppers with a clear understanding of how supermarkets are performing,” he said.
Research
CHOICE’s research is aimed at improving transparency, competition, and value.
For its first report, the consumer group sent ‘mystery shoppers’ to 81 supermarkets in cities and the regions.
This included 27 Woolworths, 27 Coles, 23 Aldi, and 4 IGA stores.
Shoppers were tasked with purchasing 14 everyday grocery items.
These 14 items were purchased by mystery shoppers at Coles, Woolies, and Aldi. Only the top ten items were purchased at IGA.
- Apples
- Carrots
- Weet-Bix
- Clices white bread
- Flour
- Penne
- White sugar
- Tea bags
- Tinned diced tomatoes
- Full-cream dairy milk
- Block of tasty cheese
- Frozen peas
- Beef mince
- Butter
Here’s what the same basket of groceries cost at different supermarkets:
- Coles: $68.33
- Woolworths: $68.58
- Aldi: $51.51
Aldi groceries are cheaper than Coles and Woolworths on average
The average cost for the basket of groceries was $63.74.
The Coles basket was 75 cents more expensive than Woolworths.
However, when discounts or specials were taken into consideration, Woolworths was $3.59 cheaper than Coles, and Aldi’s price remained the same.
Location
Grocery prices for the same products from the same retailers differed across locations.
CHOICE found the most expensive groceries were in the NT, followed by Tasmania. There are no Aldi stores in these jurisdictions.
WA was the third most expensive, with shoppers paying around a dollar more than SA, Vic, ACT, NSW, and Qld for the same groceries.
The basket cost an average of 70 cents more in the cities than in the regions.
IGA
Instead of Aldi, CHOICE surveyed IGA stores in the NT and Tasmania, to provide a price comparison against the supermarket giants Coles and Woolies.
The grocery basket was reduced to ten products because some items were unavailable in these locations.
In the NT, CHOICE found that IGA was around 39% more expensive than Coles and Woolworths. However, it said NT prices were impacted by Tropical Cyclone Megan.
In Tasmania, IGA was 21% more expensive.
