Category Archives: Supermarkets

Australians dropping fruit and vegetables from diet amid cost-of-living crisis

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ABS data shows changes in grocery consumption, prompting concerns over eating habits and the nation’s health

Australians are buying less fruit and vegetables and consuming less milk, as relentless increases in grocery prices upend eating habits, raising concerns over the nation’s health.

Overall, shoppers are buying less of just about everything, with consumption falling from 15.1m tonnes to 14.8m tonnes in 2022-23, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Friday.

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PM says transparency around aid worker’s death ‘in Israel’s interest’ – as it happened

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PM ‘absolutely’ confident supermarket review will reduce prices for consumers

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC News Radio, also weighing in on Craig Emerson’s supermarket review.

Including the Senate review … we’ve already announced our funding of Choice, the consumer organisation, to do quarterly price monitoring, ensuring that consumers know where the best deal is available and using that use of information to drive that competition through the system.

We’ve only got a few supermarkets in Australia and it does concentrate a lot of market power in the hands of the retailers, [so] heavy fines might be the way to go. I certainly wouldn’t stand in the way of that.

And I know many people, particularly in one of the richest cities in the world in Sydney, are doing it incredibly tough when you’ve got the dual hits of both interest rate rises and high inflation.

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Australia’s big supermarkets could face penalties of up to $10m under proposed mandatory code

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Government report stops short of recommending powers to break up big chains saying heavy fines and effective enforcement would be ‘a more credible deterrent’

Australia’s big supermarkets could face hefty fines as part of a federal government plan to make the grocery code of conduct mandatory and give it teeth.

A report ordered by the government – to be released on Monday – warns changes are needed to redress “a heavy imbalance in market power between suppliers and supermarkets in Australia’s heavily concentrated supermarket industry”.

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Co-op profits rise despite record shoplifting levels in food stores

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Chain signs up 1m new members and invests more than £90m in cutting prices

Despite record levels of shoplifting in its food stores, the Co-op increased profits in its grocery business last year as it signed up 1 million new members and invested more than £90m in cutting prices, including introducing special discounts for members.

Profits rose 11% year on year to £154m despite a 6.4% fall in sales to £7.3bn, driven by the sale of the Co-op’s petrol forecourt chain to Asda. Underlying sales rose 4.3%, excluding the impact of that deal, although that was still well behind the pace of grocery inflation.

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Australia politics live: Coalition slams Keating for China meeting; RBA tipped to hold rates

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Former PM called ‘reckless’ for accepting talks with foreign minister Wang Yi. Follow the day’s news live

Energy minister Chris Bowen is on a bit of a media blitz this morning.

More renewables are coming on to the grid, which is lowering the default price of energy, but this is Bowen’s main message (he is speaking to ABC radio RN here)

Nuclear is the most expensive form of energy in the world at the moment. There will be a real choice at the next election between the cheapest form of energy and the most expensive.

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Watchdog would get powers to ‘smash’ supermarket duopoly under Greens bill

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The party will table a private senator’s bill this week to enable the ACCC to force Coles and Woolworths to sell off parts of their business

Australia’s competition regulator would gain powers to “smash the supermarket duopoly” and force the breakup of big supermarket chains, under a push from the Greens to be introduced to federal parliament.

The Greens will this week table a private senator’s bill seeking to introduce divestiture powers into Australian competition law. The party’s economic justice spokesperson, Nick McKim, said they will seek support across the parliament for their plan which would allow the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to apply for a court order requiring large companies to divest assets if their market power is unfairly inflating prices or blocking competition.

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Farmers paid too little, shoppers charged too much – it’s a win-win for Australia’s supermarkets

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Coles and Woolworths leverage their dominant position over smaller suppliers and consumers alike – and both groups are getting angry

Farmers are pressuring supermarkets to raise produce prices, and shoppers want shelf prices lowered. Can both win?

As inflation eases, supermarkets would typically lean on suppliers to cut prices, with some of those savings passed on to frustrated shoppers to dissuade them from buying less or switching grocery stores in search of a better deal.

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Coles pay offer labelled ‘insulting’ as staff say they can’t afford to shop at own workplace

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One worker says she feels ‘disrespected’ by proposed agreement, which includes in-store gift cards if staff vote to accept

Some Coles workers say an offer from the supermarket giant of in-store gift cards if they vote to accept a new enterprise agreement is “insulting”, and the agreement doesn’t give them a meaningful pay rise despite the company’s increased profits.

One employee said she felt “disrespected” by the offer, which comes at a time when some staff say they are skipping meals and shopping at other supermarkets because they can’t afford food from their own workplace.

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Fixing Australia’s supermarkets: how to drive competition without wielding a hammer

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Short of breaking up Coles and Woolworths, retail experts call for regulation of wholesale supply deals and help for new entrants to access sites

The Albanese government has ruled out breaking up Australia’s dominant supermarkets after likening such a measure to the old Soviet Union’s command and control economy.

While the government’s position will disappoint some of Coles and Woolworths’ fiercer critics, meaningful reform doesn’t necessarily require a hammer, according to industry and supply chain experts.

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UK grocery price inflation falls to two-year low amid supermarket price war

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Competition helped offset impact of Red Sea shipping crisis in February, says analyst Kantar

Grocery price inflation in the UK has slowed to a two-year low as fierce competition among supermarkets offset the impact of the Red Sea shipping crisis on goods prices.

In a boost to households, supermarket prices were 5.3% higher than a year earlier in February, the lowest rate since March 2022 and down from January’s 6.8%, according to the analyst Kantar. Grocery sales grew by 5.1% in the four weeks to 18 February.

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Australia news live: NSW police officer charged with murder after disappearance of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies

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Former celebrity blogger expected to face court. Follow updates live

What will happen if there’s a storm during today’s Taylor Swift concert?

With a thunderstorm forecast at Sydney Olympic Park this evening, many are asking what this means for the Eras tour?

The show will play, rain or shine. The only exception would be severe weather, which could impact the safety of artists and patrons. Such a decision would be made by NSW Police, the event promoters and Venues NSW staff.

Please follow venue screens and staff instructions in these circumstances.

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New Woolworths boss faces tough initiation amid rising community anger over prices

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Brad Banducci will face a Greens-led Senate inquiry, but it is Amanda Bardwell who will have to rebuild the supermarket giant’s reputation

Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci is stepping down from Australia’s biggest supermarket chain – but he’s going down swinging.

Against a backdrop of multiple parliamentary inquiries and a year-long pricing investigation, Banducci maintains that the grocery sector is “unbelievably competitive”.

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Shoppers sceptical of whether Coles or Woolworths specials offer actual savings, Choice survey shows

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New data from consumer group reveals four in five shoppers say it is hard to know whether markdowns represent value for money

Most shoppers don’t believe Coles or Woolworths specials or sales promotions make it clear they offer actual savings, new data from consumer group Choice shows, with four in five consumers finding it difficult to discern real discounts.

Of almost 11,000 people surveyed, 88% of respondents said they were worried about the rising costs of groceries, while 83% of respondents said they thought some of the supermarkets’ marked down items made it hard to know if they were value for money.

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UK farmers vow to mount more blockades over cheap post-Brexit imports

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Inspired by French action, British campaigners say they will continue slow tractor protests after Dover roads were blocked

Farmers say there will be further French-style blockades following a slow tractor protest at Dover against low supermarket prices and cheap food imports from post-Brexit trade deals.

Around 40 tractors and other farm vehicles blocked roads around the Kent port for several hours on Friday evening by driving slowly and carrying signs with slogans such as “No More Cheap Imports”.

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Woolworths, Coles and Aldi to roll out soft plastics collection bins in 12 Melbourne stores

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Supermarkets will ask customers to recycle scrunchable plastic food packaging for first time since REDcycle ended

Woolworths, Coles and Aldi will roll out soft plastics collection bins in 12 Melbourne stores, giving customers a place to recycle their scrunchable food packaging for the first time since the demise of REDcycle.

A spokesperson for the Soft Plastics Taskforce – made up of the three supermarkets and chaired by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – said the trial, which begins this week, is possible because of new soft plastic recycling facilities that began operating last week.

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‘Diabolical actions’: Snoop Dogg and Master P sue Walmart in breakfast cereal spat

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Rappers entered breakfast market with Snoop Cereal in 2023, and allege conspiracy between manufacturer Post Consumer Brands and supermarket chain Walmart to ‘choke’ startup brand

Rappers Snoop Dogg and Master P are suing US supermarket chain Walmart and food manufacturer Post Consumer Brands, claiming that the two companies conspired to sabotage the success of the pair’s new breakfast cereal enterprise.

Snoop Cereal launched last summer, with Master P hailing parent company Broadus Foods as the first Black-owned cereal company in the US: “This has been going on for over 100 years, that we’ve been consumers and never owners, so we’re changing that game.” The rappers partnered with Post to produce the cereal itself.

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Groceries on special fly off Australian supermarket shelves at 70 times normal rate

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ABS data highlights shoppers’ attraction to promotions, as supermarkets giants discount unhealthy food twice as often as healthier items

Supermarket promotional items can sell at up to 70 times their normal rate, analysis shows, in a sign of the market power the grocery giants exert over Australian households that includes a preference to discount junk food.

An upcoming parliamentary inquiry designed to investigate claims of profiteering is expected to place significant focus on grocery specials, while the competition regulator has also suggested it could sue major supermarkets for deceptive promotions. The chains have defended their pricing practices.

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‘We’ve got to break them up’: farming groups say supermarkets use market power to distort prices

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Claim comes amid state and federal inquiries into Australian grocery sector and what producers say is a widening gap between wholesale and shelf prices

Farming groups have accused the major supermarkets of using their power to distort the market, leading to elevated prices for shoppers and low prices for producers.

The claim comes amid falling global prices for agricultural goods that have failed to dent grocery bills, and growing scrutiny of supermarket pricing practices through newly announced federal and state parliamentary inquiries.

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Queensland launches inquiry into grocery price gouging following premier’s meeting with major supermarkets

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Executives of Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have agreed to appear at hearings, Steven Miles said, amid concerns from farmers and consumers

Queensland’s state government will launch an inquiry into alleged grocery price gouging – despite the jurisdiction having few powers to combat the issue, the premier said.

The premier, Steven Miles, said terms of reference are being drafted and the committee will be formed in the first sitting week of parliament for the year, next month.

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Annual profit is more than $1bn for Woolworths and Coles. How do they set prices and can they justify rises?

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Farmers and consumers alike are sharing their frustration amid the cost-of-living crisis as a government inquiry into the Australian supermarket giants looms

Australian supermarkets breezed through the pandemic, increasing profits and shareholder returns even as living costs surged, all while avoiding the scrutiny faced by their overseas counterparts.

But a looming parliamentary inquiry, and a revitalised political interest in the discrepancy between prices paid to farmers and those charged by supermarkets, means the sector has been thrust into the spotlight.

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