Aldi is at least a quarter cheaper than other major supermarkets – retaining its spot as the most affordable grocery chain in Australia.
A mystery shopper survey found that the price difference between Aldi and two other major chains, Coles and Woolworths, was around 25%.
This is the second quarterly undercover report comparing a basket of essential items, including apples, sliced bread, flour, tinned tomatoes, cheese, and milk.
The items are chosen based on size, quantity and ingredients to ensure a fair comparison, but the items are not publicised.
Choice recommends customers save money by going for discounts and shopping around. Going to different supermarkets can help customers find more specials and decrease the overall cost. Opting for cheaper alternatives, such as more affordable cuts of meat and frozen fruit and veg, are also minor changes customers can make to save some extra money.
Choice’s chief executive, Ashley de Silva, said it was important that supermarkets used “clear, simple labelling, that leaves the customer in no doubt about whether a product is actually on special”.
Coles and Woolworths have also been heavily scrutinised as the ACCC has taken legal action against the supermarket giants. The ACCC alleged that Coles and Woolworths used misleading price labelling to convince customers they were getting a deal while prices were instead being raised. The supermarkets allegedly raised prices of certain products for a period of time before discounting them, often to higher prices than they were originally.
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