Where do you do your grocery shopping? Are you loyal to one particular supermarket? Or do you try to hunt down the best bargains?
Do you think that all supermarkets are fairly similar in price, especially when it comes to ‘name’ brands?
Consumer group CHOICE compared the prices of more than 150 national brand products at Aldi, Coles and Woolworths, and there was a clear winner when it came to the cheapest prices.
“Our price comparison found that across the range of 152 products we priced, brand name products were, on average, cheaper by 20 per cent at Aldi compared to Coles and Woolworths,” said CHOICE food editor Rachel Clemons.
“Some products did cost the same at Aldi as they did at Coles and Woolworths, and some were more expensive, but the majority of brand name products we surveyed were cheaper at Aldi. Savings went up to as much as 57 per cent.”
The biggest discrepancy in price that the CHOICE comparison found was Haribo sweet and sour bears that were 57 per cent more expensive at Woolworths than at Aldi.
While lollies are not an everyday item, dishwashing detergent was second on the list, with Morning Fresh Lemon 52 per cent cheaper at Aldi than at Coles or Woolworths.
Other regularly purchased items that were cheaper at Aldi included Kleenex Complete Clean Toilet Tissue (47 per cent), Nescafe Blend 43 (47 per cent), Colgate Optic White (44 per cent), Coke No Sugar (43 per cent) and Dove Nourishing Body Wash (38 per cent).
The CHOICE research revealed that the pack sizes were often very different between the supermarkets.
Of the 152 products compared, 36 were smaller at Aldi and 19 were larger, meaning that 36 per cent of the packs surveyed came in different sizes at Aldi than they did at Coles and Woolworths.
There were also differences in package sizes between Coles and Woolworths name brand products.
Ms Clemons claims that these different pack sizes make it difficult for shoppers to compare when they are trying to save money on groceries.
“Essentially, you can’t assume a lower price tag for a national brand at one retailer means you’re getting better value – you could just be getting less product.”
Ian Jarratt from the Queensland Consumers Association said it was important to look at unit prices and not just selling prices.
He explains some of the tricks to look out for when shopping, including:
- products sold in packs and loose, e.g. carrots in 750g packs vs loose per kg
- different brands of the same product, e.g. brand A cornflakes in 900g packs and brand B in 750g packs
- different levels of convenience, e.g. cheese in blocks vs grated or sliced
- regular prices and special offers, e.g. normal price for a single item vs a lower price per item for buying more than one.
Where do you do your grocery shopping? Do you buy name brand products when you shop? Does this make you want to start shopping at Aldi?
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