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I got outed last week. As a home-brand buyer. And now it seems that my preference for buying home-brand flour and sugar and washing-up liquid and jelly (actually, I thought the jelly was a bit crap) means that I’m guilty of crippling the Australian economy or destroying people’s livelihoods or eating small puppies. Or something.
At least that’s what the ACCC (Australian Competition & Consumer Commission) would have me think in this recent news report about the damage being done by the growing ‘home-brand’ market …
From the Herald Sun:
The competition watchdog has conceded it may struggle to prove that Woolworths’ house-brand rollout represents a significant threat to competition.
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said the misuse of market power was “the hardest part of the (competition) Act to enforce” owing to the difficulties in gathering evidence from suppliers who relied on supermarkets for their livelihoods.
Industry Minister Kim Carr has launched a stinging attack on supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles.
Senator Carr claimed this week that their push to expand sales of private label products threatened to “cripple innovation, destroy jobs and erode our capabilities as a food-producing nation”.
Woolworths is intending to double sales of private-label products.
Mr Sims told ABC radio the supermarkets’ push into homebrand products was being closely watched.
“What I’m keen to say to those suppliers who feel they are being unfairly treated under the Act is: come forward and give us the evidence,” he said.
I’m going to be upfront and say that this is an issue I need to look into. And at this point, I don’t know if the ACCC is being overly-vigilant or have a fair point to make. What I do know is that like most people I live on a budget and my family’s grocery bill (and there’s just three of us) isn’t getting any smaller. I also feel like I can’t win. I’m busting my you-know-what trying to buy fresh. And less packaged foods. And more fruit and veg. And more Australian made products. And and and … three million other things the media helpfully like to point out in their bid to drive me bananas. And while it’s thoughtful of the ACCC to defend the multi-nationals (bless ‘em), I’ve gotta say I’m a leetle bit tired of the sneaky increases in food items and the sneaky down-sizing in quantity of the major brands (yes, Cadbury, I’m looking at you). Look we have new packaging! And a new logo! And try not to notice that we’re 30g lighter but charging you more! Is it any wonder so many of us are trying to save a dollar or two when we can? Hmmmm.
The thing is Mamamia’s Managing Editor, Lana, has a different point of view…
Lana writes:
I have always been a supporter of the under-dog. Give me a sports match, ask me to choose a side and I’ll pick the team with the least chance of winning. It’s not because I like losing it’s just that I like competition. Clear winners are great but less so if there is no opposition. It make the game boring.
This very line of thinking is the reason that I don’t buy homebrand. It’s not because I don’t like their products or that I try spend as much money as I can, it’s just that I think competition fuels our market and no place as strongly as on our supermarket shelves.
Competition gives consumers choice. I don’t object to having homebrand on the shelves I just choose not to buy it and I feel comfortable knowing that different suppliers operate within the same market promoting competition and giving me the right to decide who I want to support and what I should buy.
But looking at the shelves of my local supermarket my choices are eroding, in fact in some areas there is no choice at all. Insidiously wrapped to look “non-generic” the shelves are full of homebrand products – there is no other option.
Yesterday at my local Coles which is HUGE there was not a single competing brand in the health food section – I wanted to buy quinoa, flaxseed and chia. The only option I had was to buy the Coles homebrand. That’s not competition, it’s not good for me, it’s not good for small business and in the long run I don’t believe it’s good for the economy.
With no choice the supermarkets will be able to charge anything they like, they will be able to dictate what we purchase and they will force people out of business. Added to which I will never be able to find the quinoa that I like.
Here’s a gallery of Coles and homebrand lookalikes, via Mumbrella. They’re remarkably similar in layout, shape and even colour choice…
UPDATE: On that note, the Australian Food and Grocery Council is working with the Australian Government on tightening intellectual property laws so that the big supermarket giants of Coles and Woolies cannot completely ‘copycat’ the packaging of their own products, which the giants are making substantially cheaper. As it stands logos and brands can be trademarked but not the livery or overall look of the product.
So what do you think? Do you buy branded or homebrand products? Why?
Comments
207 Comments so far
I tried a few home brand products but all were substandard, but my main reason for not buying them is that most are cheap foreign imports and I prefer to support local producers whenever I can and I want to know who the manufacturer is, this is never listed on home/ store brands. Coles store brands do seem to include a significant amount of local produce but not Woolworths. I avoid supermarkets as much as possible better quality and often cheaper products can be easily sourced elsewhere eg fruit and veg, meat, bread, pet food and cleaning products.
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To be fair, the coles brand soups – like the campbell’s ones, taste. Amazing. In particular the chicken and sweetcorn and minestrone. omg.
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My only issue with articles like this is that you need to differentiate between home brand which is actually a brand, and coles or woolworths select brands – which I suppose can be classed as house brands. Home brand products have been in stores for years an have a distinguishable minimal packaging of white and red usually. And are usually cheaper again than the Coles and Woolworths select brands.
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As a student living out of home with my fiancé (also a student), we are often on a tight budget and choose to buy homebrand bread, milk, pasta, tomato paste, flour, sugar etc because it fits out budget. I refuse to feel guilty because I notice that a lot of these products do say ‘product of australia’ or ‘made in Australia from local and imported ingredients’ which means at least some of it is being produced here, and creating jobs. A lot more of the companies we see such as Kraft are owned by overseas companies.
Of course I do buy foods from brands other than homebrand, I use the local butcher (cheaper!) and green grocer, but at the end of the day if home brand is the cheaper option I’m going to go for it, and I won’t be ashamed by that.
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There was never as much choice as we thought with packaged goods. The may be branded differently but you will find just about everything is made by the same few companies anyway… goodman fielder ect. I think choice has always been an illusion especially in the big two supermarkets.
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I can shop for a family of three for $150 and I refuse to feel ashamed that 90% of my purchases are from Aldi. If I have to go into Woolworths and Coles – damn right I’m going to purchase home brand products. It’s nice for those who are on huge incomes, but we’re surviving on one full time and one freelance income – and I refuse to feel guilty for choosing the cheaper products over the more expensive.
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I buy a mix of branded and homebrand products. It depends on the quality of the product (for example I would never buy homebrand toilet paper or tissues but body wash is great.) I always bought homebrand milk and wasn’t going to stop when Coles and Woolies reduced their prices BUT I never bought homebrand bread before so I wouldn’t buy it now the price has gone down.
I’m not ashamed at the fact that I buy alot of homebrand items, we as consumers should not be made to feel guilty that companies are doing it tough because of Woolies and Coles. We are also doing it tough and alot of us struggle to make ends meet.
We have an ACCC for a reason and something should be done about the duopoly of supermarkets in this country, but I will continue to get the most out of my dollar (as long as the quality is there) regardless of the name on the package.
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well like many others, i’m on a tight budget, i only have limited amount of money to spend on food and clothing for me anfd my family, so whats cheapest gets the nod in my books. Gone are the days when i would fully support Australian made, simply because it just costs too much. Australia has this mindset that we are better than anybody else in making everything, and that is just not the caos. We are pricing ourselves out of the market, and blind Freddy can see that. how many companies are moving offshore because they simply cannot survive here in Oz. . Being paid for your holidays, plus a loading on this pay, maternity leave, allowence’s of all kinds, and if anybody thinks that manufacturers don’t pass these costs on to the consumer, they are in a dream world. And then there is the hourly rate people get, like 20 odd bucks an hour for a junior checkout operator, these are just some of the reasons why it costs so much to manufacture in Australia. I know i’ll get the union people howling here, but s**t, i live in the real world here, and until we stop thinking we deserve all this, more people will lose their jobs, as more companies move offshore. And when the government of the day is sending us down the finiancial drain as well, how can you win. People need to open their eyes, get out of the dream world, and may be it is time to look after No 1, thats ourselves. No way am i going to support anybody on 50K a year just because he/ she works for an Australian company, food on my table comes first.
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We buy fruit and veg from the market (when it’s on) or the local fruit shop; and get meat from the butcher (which is in the same shopping centre as our local Woollies – and has much better meat), and bread from the bakery (just need a candlestick maker to complete the set!)
I don’t buy much home brand stuff – I thought flour was flour until there was no homebrand and I used branded SR flour. There was a noticeable difference in what I was cooking. A lot of the cleaning products have much less active ingredients (hence the lower cost) so you have to use more – which makes them the same cost anyway. The thing that gets me is that sometimes the homebrand is the same cost or slightly dearer than the name brand when you consider price/weight; but because it has a cheaper *unit* price… people think they’re getting a bargain.
But it really BUGS me that I cannot choose what brands I buy – and when something I have regularly purchased for years suddenly disappears and is replaced by a dodgy homebrand version – less than impressed! I am seriously time poor, so I don’t have the luxury of being able to trot around to three or four supermarkets to buy the brands I want!
(the butcher, fruit shop, bakery and supermarket are co-located!)
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When did global multinationals become the underdog?! It’s a laughable idea that poor old Proctor & Gamble, Colgate Palmolive, Cadbury Schweppes, Nestle, Arnotts etc are struggling start ups that need to be protected from powerful supermarkets and their budget and quality conscious customers.
We buy what we think is the best combination of quality and value. And for so many items at the moment, that’s the home brand. And that’s what real competition is all about.
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I’ve been wondering that too – our supermarkets are hardly stocked with the local apiarist’s honey, are they?
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Actually Kris, Capilano which WAS the most abundant honey in Coles and Woolworths is owned and produced by Australian apiarists.
Capliano’s containers also work a lot better, easier to get the honey out, than the home brands
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One summer, I worked in a sultana packing plant near Mildura. We packed the 5-crown sultanas (the good ones) into Sunbeam-branded packaging, while we packed the 3-crown sultanas (the not-quite-so-good ones) into Woolies home brand packaging.
So for me, home brands have always meant “cheap” in both senses of the word. So I buy homebrand sugar and flower, but Whittaker’s chocolate (because it’s so much better than Cadbury).
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Home brand as it’s cheaper and often the same quality as the branded stuff – what difference is there between CSR’s evil empire of sugar and asbestos and Coles’, Franklins’ or Woolies’?
Fruit and Veg comes from local shops, and meat wherever I see a good cheap deal.
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Unfortunately, supporting the underdog is a luxury that a lot of people can’t afford.
People should be allowed to live within their means without being criticised for it. When I was struggling in my first few years in Sydney pretty much everything was homebrand. When we were kids Mum stocked the shelves with Home Brand, No Frills and Black and Gold. Its the same as the caged eggs issue – yes I hate caged eggs and never buy them now I’m an adult. But my Mum often says that the price was the difference between her kids getting a birthday cake or missing out.
Nowadays I still buy a lot of store brands but really its just about what I prefer and what is the best price. In a lot of cases the store brands are better than the big names (or, as a lot of people have pointed out, just big names repackaged). I buy my fruit and veg from markets mainly because its cheaper and better quality – but I do like that it supports local industry and limits the carbon footprint in the process.
Which leads to my final point – I do what I can to avoid too much packaging. I don’t know how it is in Australia anymore, but in the UK the shop brands spend very little on packaging, meaning a lower contribution to landfill.
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No I don’t, and will not buy home brand.
Food security is going to be a huge issue in coming years.
If the Australian consumer does not support the domestic brands, we will be left with no food manufacturing industry, and therefore no choice.
Home brands are all about undermining the independent brands and squeezing them off the shelves.
If we want our kids to be able to find jobs easily in Australia, we all need to be more accountable for the purchasing choices we make.
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Just an aside from the “home brand” debate. Last Saturday morning I did some grocery shopping at our local Coles store. Although we usually buy fresh bread from a local independent bakery, I bought a loaf of ‘fresh baked in store today’ wholemeal bread. When I got home I found the bread was stale & MOULDY. My husband took it back later that day, and spoke to the Bakery Manager, who told him the bread comes into the store pre baked, in cardboard boxes, and is only re-heated, sliced & packaged in store. How deceiving is this ??????? How long was my bread sitting in a cardboard box ?????? Obviously, many days.
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Why don’t supermarkets sort groceries out by location grown/made to make it easier for me. If there was a massive banner of green and gold, I’d head right over there and buy everything from that spot and my guilt would be gone.
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a few times i have bought fruit from coles because i would get home from uni late and they were the only store open.
almost every time i have bought strawberries from coles i would get home to find that underneath the ones on top were all mouldy strawberries.
disgusting.
never again have i bought fruit / veg from coles.
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I was surprised when I moved to the uk 10 years ago and there were literally no branded items in their supermarkets, just fancy looking own brands. Apparently our supermarkets have the same goal in mind. For those posters missing old favourite brands, they are probably the new generics on the shelfs. I read an article awhile back that for each grocery item, they would keep the top 3 brands, and charge exhorbitant shelf “rent”. The fourth and fifth best-sellers would become their home brand, obviously at a price set by the supermarket. This so for the newer, fancier generics (select, you’ll love coles etc) not the traditional home brand line. I dread that they’ll become like the uk versions- scary! I don’t think so, I don’t think people there have the connection with the producers that Australians do
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I used to buy home brand only, for everything. I found it odd and just plain mind boggling that a close friend refused to buy it because it was “embarrassing”, even when she hit sever financial hardship. She would rather go into further debt, than buy homebrand. It’s not like she was upper class and snobby, she worked in a factory and lived in bogan suburbia, but it was an issue for her that she couldn’t get past.
Nowadays I buy what I need in the brand or form I prefer (usually, but not always, in the healthiest version). I probably should be more ethically and environmentally motivated in my choices, but to be honest, as a single, working, studying, mother of one I just can’t be arsed. I do what’s convenient and makes me feel good. Having quit smoking when I found out I was pregnant and drinking only half a dozen times a year these days, I figure I deserve it, even if it’s not the cheapest or the most Australian, or organically grown etc. I do try and make the better choice when it’s easy to do.
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Wow, I didn’t realise that by purchasing no frills / home brands we have the power to potentially eliminate so much competition from the market. Thanks for opening my eyes!
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Farmers make 1c per litre of $1 milk. They rip off our farmers. I encourage each and every one of you to buy your fresh fruit and vegetable from a local market. It’s ten fold cheaper, it’s fresh, unfrozen, not stored and your food will taste amazing! Support Australian farmers so they can keep feeding us for generations longer. As soon as farming land is sold for residential development it never turns back into farming land. What will we do then??
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That is so true, I was talking to a farmer who recently sold a whole tray (of dozens) of avocados to Coles for around 60 cents – not each avocado but for the WHOLE tray! Coles sell them for at least $1.20 each normally. If farmers (and consumers) continue to get ripped off like this we will have no farmers left.
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This works in theory – until you look at the reality of living 1600kms away from the nearest city. Our ONLY choices for shopping are Coles and Woolworths… and even then it doesn’t guarantee that you can buy the particular brand you want.
I have to have my son’s formula bulk-ordered and sent up from Perth privately because Coles and Woolies just don’t have the ability to stock it. There isn’t enough room on their shelves for every single brand that they have the room for in Perth stores.
It’s the same with milk – they can barely keep it on the shelves because of the size of the town vs distance it needs to travel vs how much room there is in the truck. When you need to buy milk and there are only 4 cartons left on the shelf, you don’t even LOOK at the brand – you just buy it because if you don’t, someone else will, and you’ll be without milk for the next 3 days until the next truck comes in.
I miss being able to go to the farmers markets. I miss buying food that has only travelled 50kms to market as opposed to 1600kms. But I can’t do anything about it. You can’t even grow most produce up here because the dirt (it’s not even soil – it’s red dirt) only has iron in it, there’s not enough water for it and when it’s topping 45C for the 8th WEEK in a row, plants tend to go out on strike and die.
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Yeah I understand it’s not always possible. In my town Coles and woolworths used to stock a fair range of each product. Now they only have three different types of their own homebrand with different packaging to mimic the original brand WITHOUT stocking the original brand. I feel like they are controlling my every purchase and really ripping off the farmers.
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Absolutely right!
If you must buy milk from the supermarket, just don’t buy home brand – ever!
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Farmers make 1c per liter of $1 milk. They rip off our farmers. I hate them. Please buy australian products if you can. Go to local farmers markets. Eat fresh, local and UNFROZEN or prolonged stored fruit and vegetables!!! They are wayyyyy cheaper than any grocery.
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yes some homebrand stuff is bad.. ick just bad.. and from overseas places that you just know don’t have the same standards (same with some fresh ie garlic!)… but Coles and Woolies are providing homebrand products that are Australian made, and some that are big brand made – just repackaged for homebrand. Some of the big names have no choice but to do this as they need to stay in the market, whatever way we choose.. Heinz do this, so do Huggies..
I don’t believe in the buy big brands vs homebrands = buying Australian either.. how many of our companies are not Australian now?
I say buy products that you are happy with the quality of, that suits your budget.. the employees and farmers have already been ripped off by these companies and supermarkets who aren’t looking out for your families welfare no matter what pretty advertising is around.
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Miss T Leaves? Where did I go?
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We often purchase the “homebrand” products. I appreciate the complexities of the situation but I have a family with a variety of food allergies and our choice is largely determined by how many people the product can cater to, rather than ethics. Ironically because one of the allergies is to dairy we often find the cheaper products work well for us because dairy can be a comparitively expensive ingredient.
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As a Woolies shopper I don’t like actual ‘Homebrand’ (white packaging with black and red text) but the Woolworth’s Select brand is pretty decent. Just five minutes ago I was eating Woolworth’s Select Sweet Chilli Grain Chips and they were far better than Grainwaves. Just depends on the particular product I suppose!
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I try to buy Australian Product as much as possible. This means grocery shopping is a long and tedious mission as I read every label. I have found that buying well known “Ozzie” brand names is NO guarantee, so search for “product of”, which is sometimes hard to find amongst the small print. Even this is not foolproof as products sourced from overseas can be labelled as Australian if it is processed or packed in Oz. Because of this, I tend to always buy the same tried and true brands that I am happy with. Regarding “home “brands, I have been continually disgusted to find Oz products squeezed off the shelves in favour of products that come from South Africa or India or China etc. I am happy to say that I will buy Salmon from Alaska (but not Malasia) Frozen vegies or fish from New Zealand (but not Korea.) I first started reading labels closely when it became necessary because of health reasons to avoid many additives such as MSG. When you are aware of what is in food, it is scary. No wonder children are hyper.
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I would research those frozen veggies from New Zealand if I were you.. there was a story recently that highlighted that most are from China, repackaged in New Zealand and sent here.. can’t trust anyone!
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NZ has looser import laws, you could be right!
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All the specials at the supermarket are paid for by the supplier. So, if you buy dogfood or cereal on special, it’s those companies who pay Coles and Woolies THOUSANDS of dollars to promote their products. On top of that they pay the supermarkets thousands more just to have their products on the supermarket shelves. Now try to imagine a life of Homebrand dominance – do you think Coles and Woollies will promote their products? They won’t need to – they’ll charge us more and never give us specials. All of those people who buy Homebrand now because it’s “cheaper and just as good” can look forward to more expensive groceries, no specials and poorer quality.
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I buy all Australian owned or Made in Aus when ever i can (98%) it may cost just a little more, but it’s keeping money and jobs here !. It takes a bit longer to shop because i read everything.
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As with most people, I mix & match. However I always read all the labels and buy what’s best value – which isn’t always home brand.
I also get my fresh produce from butchers & green grocers, rather than the supermarket. It does make a difference! Also means I go down fewer aisles in the supermarket, making impulse buys less frequent.
Some things you just can’t substitute home brand for – ketchup (not tomato sauce but ketchup), tissues, jelly, chocolate, mexe-beans….
Some things I actually prefer the home brand version – musk sticks, gummi bears (Woolies, not the Coles ones), tinned tomatoes…
But no matter how tight the budget – don’t skimp on toilet paper
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That’s interesting about tinned tomatoes – I like to buy the organic ones from Aldi if I can, ever since I noticed they are so much thicker and there is so much more tomato and so much less water in the tin.
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Canned tomatoes ALWAYS from Italy
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Canned tomatoes is one thing I NEVER buy the home brand of, because they have a lot more salt (hence why they taste so good!)
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Actually Woolies brand has 6mg/100g, the lowest one I have found so far. I will keep looking for another brand though because I don’t usually shop at Woolies!
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I mostly buy homebrand. There are a few exceptions – eg Coles homebrand toilet paper is nasty – and I’m gluten intolerant so sometimes need choose ingredients over price. But generally I don’t see why I should pay more for something when it probably comes off the same production line as the named brand anyway.
I bought undies on the weekend – 5 for $15 from Target. They’re comfy, not paper-thin, fit well and do the job. They’re not made of silk or lace, but I don’t like those anyway.
I really don’t see the ACCC’s point; ultimately ‘competition’ is about one product, and its price and quality, vs another and home brands are just another part of that equation.
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The competition will only last while Coles and Woolies still have strong competitors in the branded products – but once the branded products start to disappear, and that’s the 2 supermarkets aim – they’ll up their prices and we’ll be stuck with absolutely no choice but to buy inferior Homebrand at sky high prices.
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I understand that that’s what we’re afraid of but if we are stuck with that situation, new choices will pop up because consumers demand it.
people will start buying things they can’t get at local Big Two online. there will be other shops. that’s what so great about free market system. there will always be choices.
but yes, i can certainly see their point. as a matter of interested – what happened in the UK?
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We buy from our local fruit and veg shop and butcher, hardly any pre-packaged foodstuffs in our pantry/fridge/freezer as we make most meals from scratch. Everything tastes better and even using 1st grade ingredients I think we save money.
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I never, ever buy Homebrand anything. It’s not only manufacturing that is affected = the product still often needs to be made in Australia. But down the line, it puts marketers, advertisers, logistical departments and sales departments out of work. And they may be slightly cheaper now, but once the two big grocers reach a position of dominance – think petrol – we will all be the big losers.
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Where do homebrand produts come from? I really should look on the packaging more often to check they’re not from overseas (I buy HB flour, sugar, salt, spaghetti and a few others and always assumed they were Australian grown). Maybe that’s why they’re so cheap? If so, I won’t be buying HB anymore. Sometimes they’re only a little cheaper anyway.
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Some ARE Australian grown. Just read the packaging – if it says PRODUCT of Australia, then its grown here. If it says ‘Product of some-other-country’ then obviously its not grown in Australia.
There may also be the “packed in Australia” which will be with imported/ overseas-grown products, or from a mix of imported and local ingredients.
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Most home brands (at a guess) would be Aussie made. I am assuming this because I know that a lot of home brand stuff is made in the same factory as the brand name. And I really don’t see a company like Hersey for example changing the packaging line for their choc chip bits to coles packaging and shipping to aus.
I worked at Greens factory over 10 years ago and can’t remember the generic brand but trust me all they did was change the packaging on the production line from greens cake mix to black and gold’s home brand packaging.
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I always had an inkling that’s what happened! Same product, different packaging, cheaper price!
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I am inclined to believe the poster who claims that it is likely a 70% (aussie) to 30% overseas…
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There are certain types of product with which I have no issue in buying generic brands – things like rice, flours (EXCEPT cornflour – that has to be Nurses), sugars, salt, pepper, herbs, milk, cream, butter, etc. These sorts of things all come from the same place in the end and the difference in quality is basically non-existant.
But when it comes to things with a real taste to them or quality that can impact in a major way (such as tissues/toilet paper/soap etc) – that’s when I buy branded and when I’m most loyal to my favourite brands. Dishwashing liquid for me always has been and always will be Morning Fresh. Washing powder is always Omo Sensitive (it’s the only one that doesn’t flair my skin condition). Cheese slices have always been Kraft and cheese blocks have always been Mainland. Handsoap has always been Palmolive and shampoo & conditioner have always been Sunsilk. Pens are always BIC and notebooks are always Spirax. It’s a habit that I don’t even want to break.
I figure this way it balances out – I’m saving money on the generics in some areas and supporting the independant brands in other areas. And in today’s economy, this is the best that I can do when it comes to cost vs quality.
http://thefridgedoorblog.com
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Does anyone else have the old Woolies ad playing over and over in their heads?
With the italian lady who works there telling her co-worker –
“Homebrand ees sa good brand”
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This thread is making m hungry!
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Supermarkets are such bullies! lol I loathe them although I do have to walk through their doors at times. When I do I am still surprised at the amount of shoppers who have loaded trolleys doing all their shopping in the one place. Some shoppers need the convenience I guess. What really shits me about Coles/woolies is their treatment of fresh produce, our local woolworths for eg would rather avocados go rotten all at once because they have had them selling for some ridiculous price that no one wants to pay, rather than sell them cheaper and move the fruit off the shelf in the first place. The grocer who is situated in the same centre will mark down less than perfect produce, and have a good turn over not to mention prices are much better.
My local Indian grocer is the best for rice, all legumes, spices etc as they have a very high turn over and the product is fresh. They stock so many types of rice I need a rice lesson each time I go in. I buy premium saffron from them for a fraction of the stale vial available in woolworths. Same goes for the local health shop, most basics such as dessicated coconut, nuts dried fruits and flours ,are cheaper as they only use brown paper bags which you fill yourself and pay per weight.
Aldi is good for certain products, their chocolate is great, tin salmon, poppers ( the 98%? juice) they recently had tin cherry tomatoes that were gorgeous stay away from their meat, eggs and bread.
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Oh my gosh, mo5, you’re right – that’s another thing I hate about supermarkets! There is no concession for differing quality (or lack thereof). Greengrocers will always discount stock that is less than perfect, and heavily so for things that are close to going off.
It’s such a shame when shops hold out for a particular price until the food is unsellable. What a waste.
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Very true, it is the waste that is deplorable.
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Hmmm, I’ve often wondered what happens to the F&V when it all gets a bit sad. I meantersay, the bananas on the shelf ALWAYS look in tip-top condition, nary a brown mark to be seen. Do the supermarket staff get to either buy at reduced rate or be given the old greengrocery stock? Or do the supermarkets toss it all out? Does anyone know?
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I’ve worked on farms, in a fruit packing factory and a major supermarket and I have to say it’s been eye opening and disappointing to say the least.
The farmers I’ve known (not speaking for everyone here of course) have worked extremely hard to create the best quality and largest crops within their capabilities. Depending on weather, economical climate, their own personal time constraints, availability of suitable workers etc etc. They work bloody hard to make their money let me tell you. The factories then test samples of the crop and grade it, determining the price. If there arent many factories around, there aren’t many options and at the end of the day getting paid poorly is better than not getting paid especially for a product that has a limited time to sell. Some of the crop will be unpickable (bad quality), some of it will be missed by pickers (hopefully not too much) and if it doesn’t sell to the factories then it’s rubbish.
The factories (again speaking from experience, not all of them) after cleaning and waxing the fruit then sort it into different quality grades eg. top quality, middle quality low quality, juice quality, waste. And I was astonished at the amount of decent fruit that gets wasted. Especially with mandarines and oranges. A certain amount of blemishes on the skin makes it unsellable, but the fruit inside might be glorious – just ridiculous. Even though the factories lose money buying fruit that then gets wasted, it’s better than providing low quality to the buyers and then losing the business. From what I saw the best quality stuff is shipped overseas mostly to America and surprisingly the Arab nations. They will pay the most in their off season so it’s economically sensible. The middle quality went to major franchises, the lower quality to discount retailers and then the lowest quality sellable stuff went to juice companies.
Working in a major supermarket chain I’ve seen regular quality checks taken place, but the stuff is often stored for quite a surprisingly long time. And like it’s been said above, they’d rather sell average quality at full price slowly than move the stock quickly at a discount. At the end of the day it’s all about the money. They know they’ll get business because of the convenience. They seem to be making some progress with quality control, but it’s not great. At my supermarket we are not allowed to buy unsellable merchandise cheap, it is deemed a health hazard and is just not done. We do have customers that come and take some of the wasted stock for their animals after it has been accounted for in waste reports, but otherwise it’s thrown out. No exceptions.
So as you can see it’s about money and quality and ALOT is thrown out. Ridiculous amounts. And alot of that has to do with consumer demand. People won’t buy ugly produce, even if it’s perfectly fine. People want all fruit and veg, whether seasonal or not, all the time. So it has to be travelled great distances or stored for long periods to stretch shelf life. And the best of Australian grown produce we won’t even see, because it’s long gone for America, because they’re showing factories the money.
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Thank you so much for telling us this! It makes me very sad, but I’m glad to finally feel informed.
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After reading this I cannot wait to plant my vegetable garden! as soon as the house is done!!
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Oh, I hear ya! I travel (!) into my neighbouring suburb to a beautiful greengrocer/butcher/bread shop that is, no exaggeration, 1/3 of the price of Coles/Woolies. I sometimes want to scream at some shoppers with burgeoning trolleys “What are you doing it’s a third of the price one suburb away!!” Although, now I’m working full time, I can see how it’s easier for some families.
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I think most people assume it’s cheaper in the supermarket! Seriously, if you don’t take the trouble to check, you won’t know where the bargains are. They could be around the corner…
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Coles “home brand” cheese will be made by Bega (in NSW) as of January of next year… And their “smart Buy” white bread comes from Tip Top (for Vic stores anyway)
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I’m glad to know this – I’ve long suspected it’s the case – and it’s why I buy mostly homebrand.
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True, but the issue is that Coles/Wooworths buy those products for way less than the wholesale cost of the manufacturers own branded line.
They then squeeze them off the premium shelf space to gain greater market share.
The manufacturers have no choice if they wish to remain on the shelves they accept the terms dictated by the supermarkets
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I’m a brand snob with my groceries – I tend to avoid home brand with most things as I believe you can tell the difference with toilet paper etc! I do however like the woolies brand cereal (mixed with cheerios!) and the snack chocolate bars. However, I will NEVER EVER buy home brand milk, eggs or anything fresh. Supporting farmers is important and so is encouraging competition – it’s not all about price!
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Interesting.
I will buy the fresh (specifically eggs and milk) over brand as it is exactly the same as some other brand name just not with the overheads of branding (paying designers for design the brand advertising etc)
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I believe that the farmers receive more $ from the company milk – may be wrong in some cases. Also, homebrand like woolies select are being ‘branded’ as well.
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I agree with Bec on this one. As a family of four, soon to be five and living on one income, our weekly grocery bill can get quite expensive. So I do shop for ‘some’ home brand items. Typically it’s flour, sugar, salt, thickened cream, sour cream, butter. To stretch our budget I probably would buy more home brand products if the quality was better, eg: ice cream, puff pastry.
Actually I really should shop at Aldi but I’m too terrified to enter their stores!
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Why is Aldi scary? I do the majority of my shopping there…
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I think because the store near us isn’t as big and feels a bit squashy. I guess i’m worried there’s a certain shopping etiquette at Aldi and i don’t want to get in people’s way!
I don’t want to take the kids with me so what is the best day/time to shop there?
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I find aldi very overwhelming!! it’s so fast paced, everyone knows what they’re buying, and i always feel like i’m just in everyone’s way.
i generally find supermarket shopping uncomfortable, but aldi is so clinical-feeling and is so much worse. but the few times i have been there i have really liked their products. i should just suck it up i suppose…
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Shoot! I thought I was doing the right thing by buying homebrand. Looks like I was wrong. I guess I’ll have to go back to paying more!
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The big supermarkets charge brand name companies a shelf space fee just to stock their products, and then expect a certain percentage in profit from each. I know a company that was told by Woolworths needed an extra percentage profit from their product or else they would be removed from the shelf – so of course the price has to go up.
I do sometimes buy home brand products but I try not to if I can as I am worried about the cost of homebrand products when Woolworths and Coles force the majority of brand names out of business.Then there will be no competition and no choice for consumers, so we could be stuck with higher cost lower quality products.
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Only homebrand if it is a good product. Bought home brand tomato paste for a while because it contained without additives .. Tomato and a bit of salt. And was good. Bought more homebrand when my kids were small and so was my wallet.
These days I support the fruit and grocery store across the road, only going to the supermarket for a few things that they don’t supply – toilet paper and so on.
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I am lucky enough to live right near an independently owned grocery store (not even an IGA, an ACTUAL independent) who stock local produce and dont have a home brand so I shop there, otherwise I would shop at smaller shops – butchers, greengrocers etc and just get my pantry items from IGA or worst case scenario from Woolies/Coles. I decided to boycott the big two when the whole Milk thing went down, I just could not see how the low prices wouldn’t impact on the farmers.
As a result I hadn’t been into a woolies for months until the other day, when I was backed into a corner. I was so shocked, I was trying to buy a can of champignons (oh man I love them, so weird but so yummy) and it was home brand or nothing! So I bought fresh mushrooms instead.
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I think the only homebrand products we buy are sugar and flour…
We buy nearly all of our branded items on special though unless they are staples like milk and eggs.
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I mix it up as many of you have mentioned. But being on one income and two children in nappies I now shop every few weeks at Aldi where I buy their nappies. They cost just 15c / nappy and are just as good as Huggies etc. Whilst there I do a grocery shop and am always amazed at how much cheaper my grocery bill is. My favourite items are the melting moments biscuits (mmm) and the marinated feta which is several dollars cheaper than South Cape. When at Woolworths I do tend to buy homebrand when possible, especially with bread. I’m driven by budget so that really determines my shopping choices.
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I used to buy woolies homebrand/ select for lots of bits and pieces and I’m embarrassed to admit, felt a little smug doing so- I thought i was smart enough to resist the adverstiding and branding and be better off for it. That was until I started reading more than just the price per 100g and nutritional content. I didn’t feel so smug to learn that my daughters favorite snack ( peaches in juice) were manufactured in South Africa before being packaged in Fiji then sold Australia. It left me feeling rather sick and uneasy especially when for 90c more I could have had peaches from that are grown and packaged 2 hrs down the hwy
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Needless to say my love affair with cheaper groceries is over. Now I buy less but hopefully buy smarter. Watching the reports about overseas imports and homebrands and the immediate and long term ramifications for our farmers is absolutely scary and not a future I am looking forward to.
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Well done you! It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed in the supermarket and not even look. I’ve had similar nasty shocks myself when I finally read the packaging.
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Bec, I used to have the same view as you – I still think there is not much difference with a lot of the products eg. flour, sugar and would buy those in Home Brand to save a bit on the grocery bill (some things eg. soy sauce in HB are dreadful). My husband always told me off for buying HB as he said it would eliminate choice.
And I have to admit he’s right! Just this weekend I went to Woolies to buy the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. To my dismay the usual brand of chocolate chips I buy was not sold there any more. Instead there was some stock of one well-known non-supermarket brand and twice as much stock of the Woolworths’ own chocolate chips. My husband instantly said ‘buy the other one!’ and he didn’t need to convince me, I was so cheesed off that my usual brand wasn’t available. I’ve been noticing this more and more – like Lana, I can only find HB semolina at Woolies – no choice there. Also there are TWO Woolies in our immediate area, a small Franklins and nothing else close by.
I will be avoiding HB from now on – I’ll save the extra dosh by cutting down Mr Popcorn’s beer allowance perhaps?!
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Hi Popcorn
I hear you. Lana has really helped me see the problem with supporting homebrand. So I think you can afford NOT to buy homebrand, that’s probably the way to go.
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After coming back from the UK where they have about six major supermarkets, and after realizing how EXPENSIVE Coles and Woolworths or Safeway are now and after realizing how much they were ripping me off, I refuse to shop at either now so I shop at Aldi.
I will only go to Coles when I have to get something that Aldi dont have and even then it kills me. Just yesterday I bought a nail polish from there because the bar code said it was on special for $2, so I bought it. But when I got home I realised that I had been charged normal price which was $6, if I hadn’t checked the receipt I wouldn’t have noticed and they would have gotten away with it, so I am taking the nail polish back on principle.
Everytime I go Coles or Safeway I feel like I am being robbed.
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I’m really cheesed off that Coles and Woolies make it so hard, sometimes impossible, for me to buy the brands and products I like to buy. I like to buy Australian products as much as I can. I only buy Dairy Farmers milk and my kids will only eat certain brands of things like Weet Bix, baked beans and ice cream. I avoid home brand stuff mostly because my perception is the products are inferior, I know they dont taste the same and I just dont like the idea of not being able to choose what I buy. When I have bought them I have thrown them out because my kids wouldnt eat them because they didnt like them, so any saving I made was wasted. I cant buy the chunky scotch brite sponges I have always bought beause my local Coles now only stocks their own brand of them. So I go to Woolies every now and then and stock up on them. And I used to buy meat, fruit and veg at the supermarket, but now my kids are older the extra running around isnt a hassle so I have gone back to the local butcher and fruit shop.
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The problem is once home brand’s are at near monopoly position they will just increase prices and have less choice. The idea of home brands being the cheaper solution is a temporary situation where consumers will lose in the long term.
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Yes yes yes! Bang on
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My sentiments exactly!
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Yes! Why don’t people realise that the cheaper prices (which are often only marginally less than the non house brands) WILL NOT LAST. When there is no longer any competition the big 2 will be able to charge whatever they like. I’m also on a tight family budget but I am cutting out some things to try not to fall into the home brand trap wherever I can. And it isn’t just big multinationals like Cadburys that are losing shelf space. Bec-you were right-you need to do some more research on this. John Birmingham published a great article a few weeks ago about how suppliers are forced to bid for shelf space at Colesworths, meaning little companies get squeezed out. Bad for Australian jobs, bad for consumer choice, in the long run bad for grocery prices. I think Bec it would be better to do your research *before* you write an article like this. Thanks to Lana for what I feel was a better thought out counterpoint.
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I’ve found the easiest way to cut down your grocery bill is to find a good fruit & veg shop and buy the stuff that is on special (and usually in season – win!). As much as you can, use meat and dairy as ‘sometimes’ items, or in small amounts for flavour, rather than as the main thing in your meal. Truly, you’d be amazed what you can get for $5 at the greengrocer if you shop to the specials.
I also love the Shop Ethical app which helps to make the best ethical choice in the supermarket (when you need to go in there). If you want to know what’s best but aren’t bothered to research it yourself, this is the app for you! You’d be amazed what companies own what and are therefore unethical choices.
My bf feels very strongly about homebrand ruining the competition as he has experienced it in his work. So I try not to buy homebrand. That said, I have been known to purchase homebrand flour and pasta, however I can now tell the difference between the good stuff and the cheaper versions (I used to think ‘pasta is pasta!’).
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I think you lose all your savings because it costs twice as long to cook!
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You mean, cooking from real ingredients? I save time where I can with tinned tomatoes, but anything else is false economy to me. My time is not worth so much that I should eat junk in order to ‘save’ it.
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I meant the HB pasta takes twice as long to cook! Maybe I’m the only one who finds this? The cheap pasta is only about 20c cheaper than a brand one at my local.
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Oh! I get you now. I don’t cook pasta much, but I see what you mean – if I remember correctly, the cheap pasta does take a while.
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Oh I am such a pasta snob these days! I try to buy the best I can possibly afford, love it, I eat it cold on its own! NOM NOM CARBS!
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I’m that kind of snob about bread. Rye bread, sourdough, wholegrain. NOM NOM NOM CARBS!
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whippersnapper, I never understood until I made a special dish for my (pasta-loving) bf for his birthday. The fancy pasta really does taste better! NOM NOM NOM
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Sooo good! If you make it yourself it is also spectacular, except it is seriously messy – hanging pasta over every chair or cupboard door, dropping flour everywhere! Delicious though!
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Oh god, he has wanted to do that for AGES. Perhaps the idea will lose its interest when I mention the mess?
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You can buy pasta drying racks! Saw them at Victoria’s Basement the other day.
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I’m torn between buying him some and keeping that information a secret…
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I frequently make it.
100g of flour 1 whole egg. done!! oh little salt and little EVOO.
enough (more than really) one person.
I don’t dry it though. it pretty much goes straight in the boiling water.
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Thanks for the tip on the Shop Ethical app – I am so getting that.
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