In 2024, nothing stings quite like the feeling of paying $100 for a bag of groceries. It's just… a time.
But after promising cheaper prices for years, a quarterly report into grocery prices has compared the cost of a basket of the same groceries from Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA.
And one shopping chain came out on top as the cheapest option.
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The research was conducted at supermarkets across the country, where CHOICE mystery shoppers purchased the same 14-item basket in each shop. This included butter, flour, white sugar, a block of tasty cheese, beef mince, apples, carrots and Weetbix — with each featuring a selection of different brands.
It was revealed that the same basket of groceries from Aldi cost $50.79, while it was $66.22 at Coles (or $69.91 without specials) $68.70 at Woolworths (or $68.37 without specials), and $78.95 at IGA.
Meaning? Aldi still comes out on top when it comes to bagging the cheapest groceries in Australia.
Beating Coles, Woolies and IGA by up to $28.16, Aldi remains the most affordable supermarket chain to do your weekly shop.
This is the second government-commissioned report into Australian supermarket prices this year, and it shows a marked difference in pricing. And it's not all good.
While the prices of groceries are shown to have marginally dropped at Aldi and Coles since earlier this year, it's actually increased at Woolworths.
As IGA stores as operated independently, the report shows significant variation in pricing. One of the main factors? Shoppers reported they found it more difficult to spot products on social difficult due to "inconsistent signage".
