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Aldi v's Coles v's Woolies: Which is the cheapest?
The Germans have done it again. Aldi, the feted European supermarket, which has taken the country by storm since landing here in 2001, is the cheapest place to buy groceries in Australia.
That’s according to consumer advocate Choice, who found a comparable basket of (33) goods was cheapest at the discount supermarket – costing $102.50, compared to $168.74 at Woolworths (excluding specials) and $170.54 at Coles.
The study found shoppers can save around $66-$68 by forgoing the branded groceries found in Coles and Woolworths.
It also found a further 10 per cent could have been saved by switching to Aldi’s ultra low budget options.
The basket of 33 grocery items included fruit, washing powder, cereal, coffee and eggs.
Research shows three in four Australians are worried about their grocery bill, with the nation forking out over $90 billion on food shopping per year.
Also read: How to save thousands on your mortgage
The supermarket sector lacks competition – dominated by the Coles and Woolies duopoly – who control almost 70 per cent of the market.
Intensive price rivalry between the duo means that grocery prices at both chains are very closely matched. Just $1.80 (1%) separated the two on Choices basket of goods.
However, if you buy own brand groceries at either store, you could cut your shopping bill by 40 per cent, which is almost the equivalent of shopping at Aldi.
The most expensive place to shop is at IGA, which charged 5-7 per cent more than Coles and Woolworths for an identical basket of branded items, according to the Choice research.
If you include specials, however, the IGA basket price was on par with the regular basket price (excluding specials) at the major chains – a testament to IGA’s ‘price match promise’.
