Category Archives: Coles

Supermarkets inquiry: forcibly break up major retailers for anti-competitive behaviour, report says

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Senate committee examined how major chains including Coles and Woolworths have set prices during Australia’s cost of living crisis

Major supermarkets should be forcibly broken up if they engage in anti-competitive behaviour, a Senate inquiry has recommended, in a move designed to empower shoppers and suppliers against Australia’s dominant food retailers.

The findings pit the Greens-chaired Senate committee against the Labor government, which opposes legislative changes that would allow the court-enforced divestiture of assets. Supporters say the move would act as an incentive for supermarkets to not misuse market power.

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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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Australia’s major supermarkets accused of purchasing properties to ‘turf out’ independent stores

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Metcash, the owner of IGA and Foodland brands, tells Senate inquiry that ‘if they can’t buy the store, they try and buy the property’

The head of the food division at Metcash, which owns the IGA and Foodland brands, has accused major supermarkets of paying inflated prices to buy out competitors, and purchasing properties to “turf out” independently owned stores at the end of their leases.

Grant Ramage, the chief executive of Metcash Food, told a Senate inquiry on Thursday that the practices diminished the network of independent stores by removing successful businesses.

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

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This blog is now closed

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 news live: heavy rain and strong winds to hit Victoria; Easter campers rescued from Queensland flood waters

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Five people rescued while dozens remained stranded at campsite in northern Queensland. Follow the day’s news live

Support for Labor drops in WA as Coalition gains ground among the young

Voters in Western Australia are shifting away from Labor towards the Coalition, as the opposition gains ground among young people.

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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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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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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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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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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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Coles, Woolworths and Aldi ‘responsibly sourced’ salmon labels may be misleading, watchdog told

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Environmental groups allege some of the supermarkets’ salmon is from Tasmanian farms reportedly having ‘catastrophic’ impact on ancient Maugean skate

Major supermarkets may be misleading consumers that their salmon products are responsibly sourced as some is produced in Tasmanian farms that are “far from sustainable”, environmental groups say.

The Environmental Defenders Office, acting on behalf of four environmental groups, has made a complaint to the consumer watchdog, urging it to investigate whether “responsibly sourced” labelling on seafood products and promotional material used by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have broken consumer law by misleading consumers.

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Coles and Woolworths to face Senate scrutiny amid claims of profiteering

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Greens win support for inquiry into effect of market concentration on food prices and pattern of major chains’ pricing strategies

Australia’s big supermarkets will face fresh scrutiny with a Senate inquiry to investigate their market power and pricing decisions, amid concerns they have profiteered during an inflationary period marked by fast-rising food costs.

The Greens have secured cross-party support to set up the inquiry which will examine the effect of market concentration on food prices and the pattern of pricing strategies employed by the major chains, Coles and Woolworths.

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ACCC delays decision on Coles buying milk processing plants from Saputo

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Dairy farmers warn the deal could reduce competition and lead to lower prices for producers

The Australian consumer watchdog has delayed its decision on the acquisition by supermarket giant Coles of two major milk processing facilities, which dairy farmers warn would further reduce competition and lower milk prices.

In April, Coles announced it had purchased two fresh milk processing plants from dairy processor Saputo for $105m, subject to regulatory approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

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Coles and Woolworths say their profits are modest – but does that stack up?

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The two big Australian supermarkets under scrutiny at a federal parliamentary inquiry into economic dynamism

When a representative of Australia’s biggest supermarket chain answered questions at a parliamentary committee about profits, the response created an impression that margins were modest and, if anything, falling.

The assertion appears to rub against data that shows Woolworths and Coles have greatly increased profits derived from grocery items during the inflationary period and related cost-of-living crisis.

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Australia should increase competition to fight ‘excessive pricing’ by supermarkets, Rod Sims says

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Former regulator head’s comments follow Guardian Australia analysis which shows Coles and Woolworths increased profit margins during cost-of-living crisis

The former competition watchdog head Rod Sims says Australia’s big supermarkets have likely used their market power to increase prices higher than necessary during a cost-of-living crisis and that the government should consider reforming merger laws to limit their dominance.

Sims, who retired as the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last year, said Coles and Woolworths have little to worry about when making pricing decisions because they control two-thirds of the market.

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Coles confirms its customers impacted by Latitude Financial data breach

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Supermarket giant says it is disappointed after being informed that historical customer credit card details have been stolen by hackers

Coles Financial Services has expressed its disappointment after being alerted that historical customer credit card details were stolen in the Latitude data breach.

Coles credit card holders’ personal details are the latest to be identified in around 14 million customer records compromised in the hack.

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More stockpiles of soft plastics from failed REDcycle recycling scheme uncovered

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Dozens of storage sites found across Australia but estimated amount of plastic reportedly falls from 12,350 tonnes to 11,000

New stockpiles of soft plastics from the failed REDcycle recycling scheme have been uncovered as the work to develop an alternative program continues.

The program was wound up in November 2022 after it emerged that plastics consumers had returned to supermarkets to be recycled were instead put into storage.

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