CHOICE supermarkets report focuses on Christmas staples

The third Albanese Government‑funded CHOICE quarterly report into supermarket prices has been released today, giving consumers pricing information on seasonal staples including lamb and ice cream.

CHOICE visited 104 stores across Australia including Aldi, Coles, Woolworths and IGA.

Overall, Aldi was once again the cheapest supermarket for a basket of 14 goods (with and without specials). It was followed by Coles, then Woolworths and IGA.

CHOICE also examined some Christmas specials, which found including Coles and Woolworths were the cheaper options for the leg of lamb.

Without specials, Woolworths was the cheapest, followed by Aldi then Coles. IGA was excluded from the lamb comparison as CHOICE could not consistently find a comparable item in the stores it visited.

CHOICE also compared the price of Streets Blue Ribbon 2 litre vanilla ice cream (or equivalent), finding prices were consistent across the board.

The Albanese Government initiative underlines our commitment to provide shoppers with a fair deal at the supermarket checkout.

The Government is taking a range of actions to make sure Australians are paying a fair price at the checkout and Australian suppliers are getting a fair price for their goods. We are:

• Overhauling Australia’s merger system to improve scrutiny of high‑risk mergers, with legislation passing parliament last month.
• Cracking down on shrinkflation by making it easier for shoppers to make accurate and timely price comparisons.
• Making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory with multi‑million‑dollar penalties for harmful breaches, with legislation passing parliament last month (opposed by the Liberals and Nationals).
• Working with states and territories through National Competition Policy to reform planning and zoning regulations to boost competition in the supermarket sector and reduce land banking.
• Ensuring the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is notified of every merger in the supermarket sector, the most significant strengthening of its powers in almost 50 years.
• Providing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission with an extra $30 million to address misleading and deceptive pricing practices in the supermarket and retail sectors.