West Australians are paying the most for basic grocery needs of all mainland States, the first of the Federal Government’s new grocery monitoring reports has revealed — with Coles the most expensive in the State.
Using undercover shoppers across 81 supermarkets nationally during March, consumer group Choice compared the prices of a basket of 14 products — 10 packaged items as well as milk, beef mince, apples and carrots.
But the consumer advocates have already drawn the ire of Coles, which took aim at a lack of transparency in Choice’s report.
Choice only declared the type of product bought, not whether it was a brand name or a supermarket-own brand, or the size. Comparisons on brand name products to Aldi’s range are difficult given it largely stocks its own-brand products. IGA was not included in most of the country — Choice expects to increase its monitoring through the year.
The big two supermarkets have repeatedly pointed out the price of fresh produce is variable between States and even within regions given they aim to source locally.
The Federal Government gave Choice $1.1 million to conduct quarterly price surveys in a measure it said would help to increase competition in Australia’s concentrated grocery market amid high inflation and a cost-of-living crunch that has persisted for nearly three years.
In WA, Choice reported Coles was the most expensive at $70.78, Woolworths coming in next at $69.29 and Aldi at $52.52, with an average of $64.19, or $62.69 when specials were used.
WA was the most expensive State bar Tasmania and the NT, neither of which have Aldi and both of which face similar logistics price pressures to WA.
NSW was second-most expensive for both Coles, at $69.80, and Woolworths, at $69.04, Choice reported.
The items compared were: apples; carrots; Weet-Bix; sliced white bread; flour; penne pasta; white sugar; tea bags; tinned diced tomatoes; a block of tasty cheese; full-cream dairy milk; frozen peas; beef mince and butter.
Coles took issue with Choice’s findings — compiled in March — saying all its current prices were listed online, on its app and in-store, and customers looked at them each day.
“We welcome Choice’s contribution; however, it is unclear whether like-for-like products are being compared,” a spokeswoman said.
“Our analysis last week comparing the same basket in WA shows customers can purchase these products for $61.35 at Coles.”
She added the supermarket giant was “always working hard to deliver value”, particularly through its own brand range of essentials at lower prices.
A Woolworths spokesman said all its pricing was transparent via weekly catalogues and on its website, and almost 110,000 customers each week used “best unit price” filters on its app and website.
“We know many of our customers pick Woolworths because of our wide range of high-quality products at competitive prices in more than 1000 locations across Australia,” he said.
Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh said it was “only fair” big supermarket chains received proper scrutiny to ensure they were “doing the right thing by their customers”.
“Helping shoppers find the best deal makes the family budget stretch further and puts more competitive pressure on the supermarkets,” Dr Leigh said.
Choice chief executive Ashley de Silva said the organisation looked forward to enhancing the clear and reliable information it could provide consumers.
“This kind of transparency is more important than ever as the cost of living crisis continues, and prices of basic grocery items climb,” he said.
The report from Choice comes amid increased regulatory scrutiny on the supermarkets amid accusations — vehemently contested — of price-gouging and profiteering.
The Federal Government has also directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to conduct a prices inquiry, with an interim report due in August, while State Parliaments in Queensland and SA have also held inquiries into supermarket pricing.
A final report into the grocery code of conduct is also due within months.