The best supermarket in Australia, according to the 2020/21 Finder retail awards, has been revealed and it’s not one of the big two – or even the big four. It’s a lesser known but obviously much-loved chain that was founded in New Zealand in 1923 and expanded to Australia in 1956.
The Finder retail awards are based on thousands of customer interviews relating to product purchases and cover six categories: best overall, best for value for money, best for customer service, best range of produce, best produce quality and most recommended.
Best overall, with more than 200 stores in Queensland, NSW, the ACT and Victoria, was Friendly Grocer. It scored 4.5/5, beating Costco, Woolworths and Coles, which scored 4.28, 4.22 and 4.21 respectively.
Friendly Grocer, formerly known as Four Square, was widely preferred for its product range and weekly specials, which varied between stores.
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The supermarket offering best for value for money, according to the review, was Aldi. The main positives were a wide range of products, with ingredients sourced from Australian farmers, producers and manufacturers.
According to the company, Aldi brand products are not tested on animals and it recycles 96 per cent of the packaging used in stores. Aldi scored 4.38/5 followed by runners-up Costco, Friendly Grocer and Foodland, with scores of 4.32, 3.92 and 3.92 respectively.
Best for customer service was Friendly Grocer, with key positives being sponsor events in local communities and an in-house takeaway kitchen. In this category, Friendly Grocer scored 4.46/5. It beat Coles, which had a score of 4.26, while Foodland and FoodWorks were tied in third place on 4.16.
Woolworths won for best range of produce. Consumers also praised its app and Everyday Rewards program. According to the company, it sources 96 per cent of its fresh fruit and vegies and 100 per cent of its fresh meat from Australia. It scored 4.29/5 ahead of Costco (4.24), Coles (4.23) and Friendly Grocer (4.0).
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Collecting its third gong, Friendly Grocer won best produce quality.
According to the company, all of its stores are owned, run and managed by local people.
It scored 4.35/5. Other brands that scored highly were Costco with a rating of 4.32, Coles with 4.15 and Foodland with 4.12.
And most recommended was … you guessed it, Friendly Grocer, notching a perfect score of 5/5. It beat Costco, ALDI and Woolworths with scores of 4.8, 4.7 and 4.51 respectively.
Do you have a Friendly Grocer near you? Do you agree with the main winners? What do you look for when choosing where to shop or do you switch according to weekly specials?
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