It’s no secret that Australia’s financial climate is in the toilet, and this TikToker’s viral series will truly give you a glimpse into how fucked things are, especially with food prices.
Picture this: It’s the late 2010s. You chuck on the telly, and immediately, your eyes are met with spiky-haired celeb chef Curtis Stone and his “Feed Your Family Of Four” Coles commercial that promises delish recipes for 10 bucks or less. Life’s good.
With the current cost of living crisis, you’d think that these recipes would be useful for families across Australia. Unfortunately, these meals that cost $10 or less are now just a pipe dream, and this has been proven by TikToker Apolo (@apostolucky) and their viral series.
In their videos, Apolo utilises the Coles “Feed Your Family” commercials from 2017 and compares the prices from back then to now. It’s truly fucking grim.
In one TikTok, whilst Stone was talking about how easy it was to feed a family of four with $10, Apolo showed a 460g Milo tin which was selling for $9.40. Girl dinner? Nope, this is family dinner.
In one of their more popular TikToks, Apolo attempted to recreate Stone’s $10 Coles Fettuccine Bolognese with a price check on each item, and yeah, it’s brutal.
The TikTok — which now has more than 1.2 million views — Apolo broke down each item and tallied up how much it would cost to follow this Coles recipe in 2023.
Starting off with the pasta, Apolo bought a bag of fettuccine for $2.60. They then followed it with beef mince, which cost $9. A singular brown onion, which cost around 40 cents. A head of garlic, which cost around $1.10. Two carrots, which cost around 80 cents. A punnet of mushrooms was $6.50.
Everything together cost about $20.40. However, there was a missing cost of 40 cents somewhere which could be attributed to a bag, cheese, basil, seasonings or electric stove bills.
Obviously, it’s not Stone’s fault that these recipes are obsolete. After all, they’re from 2017. But it sucks knowing that Coles’ annual report recorded $1.1 billion in profits.
As much as I found this commercial annoying, I kind of wish it was back with the same exact prices in the stores.
RIP, feed your family for 10 buck-a-roos recipes.
