It is a truth universally acknowledged that a broke student in possession of virtually no $, must be in want of a cheeky bargain.
Consumer group Choice have today confirmed Aldi’s position as the cheapest supermarket in Australia is once again retained – citing lower costs in labour, rent and admin allowing for Aldi’s undercutting of supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths.
Comparing a basket of the same goods at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, Choice found an $87.09 difference between Aldi’s basket of its own brands and Coles’ basket of “leading” brands, and a $89.09 difference between Aldi’s basket of own brands, and Woolies’ basket of “leading” brands.
While the difference between Coles’ and Woolworths’ home brands to Aldi’s brands was less stark ($26.18 and $30.99 respectively), there was no denying Aldi’s position at numero uno in terms of savings.
In 2008, the ACCC reported on a supposed “Aldi Effect” taking place in Australian shopping centres – where customers paid less for items at Coles and Woolworths if an Aldi store was in the vicinity. Today, Choice claims that the “Aldi Effect” is now “negligible”.
However, a discrepancy in prices at Coles’ and Woolworths’ own stores does exist – when the location of stores are taken into account.
Choice today crowns Canberra as the cheapest city to buy a basket of 28 “leading brand” products and 3 fresh food items; while Albany, WA should be avoided like the plague, after being ranked the most expensive city to purchase the same goods.
State/Territory by State/Territory, ACT won out as the cheapest place to buy the basket of groceries; while Northern Territory was the most expensive. These figures may be skewed slightly, however, as samples from ACT and NT were the slimmest in Choice’s survey – with prices used from only 4 stores in ACT, and 2 stores in NT; compared to 18 and 12 in NSW and Victoria respectively.
