Supermarket deliveries take to the air

Coles has gone up and over for fast grocery delivery.

In a move designed to speed up delivery – and get lots of free press coverage in the process – Gold Coast shoppers will now have the option of getting any of about 500 products delivered by Wing drones.

I mean, I guess I see the attraction. Coles is flogging it as it only takes minutes to get to your door, but as in any city, you are rarely more than 10 minutes from the nearest supermarket anyway. 

Plus, I would assume ‘minutes to your door’ is flying time and doesn’t include the time it takes staff to pick it, pack it and launch it, which even at optimum speed would be at least half an hour.  

I like that they are trying to make shopping more convenient but realistically this is only going to work in highly selective cases and no-one is talking about how much a single delivery will cost. 

Read: Energy prices are driving up inflation

Not so special

The two big chains have made a lot of noise lately about locking in prices on a range of products to fight the cost of living, but the hidden story is how much everything else is going up to cover those ‘specials’. 

Price comparison portal Frugl Grocery claims supermarket prices have increased 9.49 per cent across the board in the past 12 months. And some of the biggest quarterly increases in 2022 have been for staples such as eggs – up 9.05 per cent – and bread, up 4.94 per cent.

You’d have to be blind not to notice that the price of beef has gone up. In fact, it’s a whopping 14.44 per cent annual price increase, according to Frugl.

Lines that did go down were fruit and vegetables, down 6.55 per cent, and pork, down 2.66 per cent

“To describe the past year’s grocery pricing as volatile would be a gross understatement,” said Frugl chief executive Sean Smith.

And we can expect more to come as floods continue to devastate some of our prime farming land.

Frugl tracks almost 60,000 products in 5200 grocery stores.

Read: Eight passive income ideas to help you build wealth

This week’s deals

IGA

Sensible: Extra Large Hot Roast Chicken, $10.99. One of these bad boys, some yummy fresh rolls and a bit of salad is my go-to weekend lunch. Turn the bones into stock to get your money’s worth.

Indulgence: Halloween lollies. A great selection on special to set dentists up for decades. My pro tip, kids have loads of allergies these days and unless you like spending time with the legal industry do not hand out anything with peanuts. Snickers sells ‘bite-sized’ packs every year and I cringe. Do hand out the occasional cheeky ‘war head’ lollies to older kids – they probably deserve it. 

See the catalogue here.

Coles

Sensible: Australian top-on pineapples $4. Move over carved pumpkins, carved pineapples are now a thing and I couldn’t be happier. Carved pumpkins are okay I guess, but the flesh out of the type of pumpkin you can carve it is kind of blah. Pineapple flesh and juice on the other hand … delish. 

Indulgence: Coles Beechwood Smoked Leg ham portion, $9.50/kg. If you eat a lot of ham, these things are gold. We often buy a big chunk of ham as it represents a considerable saving on the fresh cut stuff in the deli. Don’t limit yourself to ham sandwiches, some of the uses we put to ham include quiches, omelettes, spaghetti carbonara, fritters, ham and pea croquettes and pizza toppings. 

See the catalogue here.

Read: Is your nest egg under threat?

Woolworths

Sensible: John West Tuna Tempters 95g, half price at $1.35 each. These are so handy to have in the pantry when you need a quick protein fix. And can someone please explain why no matter how many new flavours they bring out, you always return to the spring water one?

Indulgence: Weis bars, four-pack, $5, save $3.50. A pretty good discount. You can fool yourself that they are healthy with the big chunks of fruit. No point looking at the sugar content, that would just spoil things.

See the catalogue here.

Aldi

Sensible: Killarnee boneless lamb leg roast. You could roast this – and they are great opened out, stuffed and retied – but they’re also good for curries and stews, especially as the bone is already taken out. 

Indulgence: Awesome range of kids’ advent calendars, from Peppa Pig to Hot Wheels, from $3.99. I know people love to indulge in a bit of rage at early Christmas gear but these sell out pretty quick, kids love them and they’re quite cheap. Snap them up while you can.

See the catalogue here.

Would you be interested in a drone delivery system for your groceries? Why or why not? We’d love to hear your opinion in the comments section below.