Need to know
- Our latest grocery basket mystery shop has found once again that Aldi is the cheapest supermarket, followed by Coles, Woolworths and IGA. Aldi has been consistently cheaper than its competitors in our five surveys since 2015
- Between March and June the cost of our basket of 14 items without specials increased at Woolworths by $0.12 and at Coles by $0.59. At Aldi the price dropped by $0.72
- Special prices make a big difference: When we compare our 14 items including special prices we see that the overall cost of the basket at Woolworths increased by $3.44 between March and June, and at Coles it dropped by $2.30
Since 2022, our quarterly Consumer Pulse surveys have consistently found that Australian household budgets are under pressure. Once again, our June 2024 survey reveals that the vast majority of people – more than 9 in 10 – reported that bills and expenses have increased in the previous 12 months.
Amidst these pressures, the cost of food and groceries remains a cause of concern for 87% of households. This figure has remained high since March 2022 when the percentage of people expressing concern jumped above 80% for the first time since we began surveying in 2015.
We've added 23 IGA stores to our list, and included a spotlight item – washing powder
These findings underline the need to continue monitoring supermarket prices. Our regular examination of prices across the country will continue to hold supermarkets to account and help shoppers save money on groceries.
In this, the second wave of our quarterly grocery basket surveys, we have expanded the stores we've visited, adding 23 IGA stores to our list. We've also included a spotlight item in this survey – washing powder – comparing similar products from the different stores.
On this page:
- The cheapest supermarket in Australia
- How does IGA compare?
- Does where you live make a difference to grocery prices?
- In the spotlight: Washing powder
- What this means for consumers
- What's in our basket?
- How we survey supermarkets
Our basket of products (with specials) cost on average $78.95 at IGA, $68.37 at Woolworths, and $66.22 at Coles, while a comparable basket at Aldi was just $50.79.
The cheapest supermarket in Australia
Our price analysis found once again that Aldi has the cheapest groceries nationwide, based on a basket of 14 commonly bought grocery items including milk, bread, sugar, pasta and tea bags and two fresh fruits and vegetables (you can see our full shopping list below).
In June our mystery shoppers visited 104 supermarkets across the country and recorded the prices of 14 popular grocery items. We shopped at Woolworths, Coles and IGA at each location, and at Aldi in the states where they are found.
Prices including specials
Based on prices including specials and compared to our first wave of research, the Aldi and Coles baskets have dropped in price since our last survey in March, while the Woolworths basket increased.
Our basket cost on average $66.22 at Coles (compared to $68.52 in March), and $68.37 at Woolworths (compared to $64.93 in March).
A comparable basket with both national and house brands bought from Aldi was just $50.79 (compared to $51.51 in March). The comparable basket of goods at IGA cost $78.95, but our larger sample size in Wave 2 means we don't have a Wave 1 price to compare that to.
Buying items on special can make a significant difference to overall grocery costs, underlining the benefits of shopping around
As we have noted in previous research, buying items on special can make a significant difference to overall grocery costs, underlining the benefits of shopping around. In this instance, a discount on the tea bags we surveyed at Coles meant Woolworths slipped into third place in our ranking of cheapest supermarkets.
Prices without specials
When you look at our baskets without specials the picture changes slightly. While the price remains the same at Aldi, at Coles the basket cost $69.91 (compared to $69.33 in March), and at Woolworths $68.70 (compared to $68.58 in March). Because of problems determining the full price of special items at IGA stores we are unable to calculate a figure for their full-priced basket.
The gap between Coles and Woolies widens
In the first round of our quarterly supermarket research, we noted that Coles and Woolworths were very closely matched in prices. While just $0.75 separated the prices of our baskets without specials when we surveyed in March, the difference between the two stores in June increased to $1.21, with Woolworths again the cheaper of the two.
But taking into account special prices, we found Coles was cheaper than Woolworths by $2.15. In March, it was Woolies that cost less than Coles by $3.59.
How does IGA compare?
IGA is an independent grocery brand, which means that rather than following the chain store model of Aldi, Coles and Woolworths, individual stores operate as franchises and are owned and operated independently.
In the 27 locations where we surveyed IGA stores, we found prices varied greatly, mainly due to the variation in store sizes and the effect this has on ranges.
While IGA was more expensive than other supermarkets in every state, we found that the IGA basket price in the Northern Territory, where stores are smaller, was substantially higher
While IGA was more expensive than other supermarkets in every state, we found that the IGA basket price in the Northern Territory, where stores are smaller, was substantially higher: $105.18 on average compared to just $74.76 in Queensland, which had the cheapest of the IGA baskets.
Comparing prices without specials at IGA stores was a challenge. Due to inconsistent signage, our mystery shoppers were frequently unaware a product was on special until it was marked as such on their receipt, meaning there was no "regular price" to record. This means we can't include a "without specials" IGA basket in our comparison. We'll adjust our methodology to address this issue in future surveys.
Does where you live make a difference to grocery prices?
Regional vs capital cities
When we compared prices in capital cities to those in the regional centres we visited, we found very little difference – just a few cents – between the baskets of groceries for people who can access an Aldi, Coles or Woolworths. What was of note was the fact that if you're shopping at IGA outside of capital cities, on average the basket was cheaper by $2.05.
Across the states
Our analysis found that which state you live in does make a difference to how much you pay for groceries. We found that when we compare baskets from the same stores, prices change across states and specials can vary from location to location.
Aldi
Just as we found in March, in June shoppers at Aldi in NSW and the ACT were getting the best prices across the country. The cost of the Aldi basket in South Australia and Victoria is $1.30 more expensive than in the ACT and NSW, due mainly to variations in the price of the 1kg bag of apples.
Woolworths
At Woolworths, we again found that shoppers in WA were paying more than other states and territories for the same basket of goods, both with and without specials. In March, we found that buying items on special would save shoppers more than $3.60 for this basket of groceries, whereas in June this was reduced to a maximum of $0.85 in WA. When including specials, the NT had the cheapest basket ($67.59), and WA the most expensive ($69.75). Without specials, Victoria was the cheapest ($67.88)
Coles
At Coles, as we saw in March and as is the case for Woolworths, the same grocery basket is the most expensive in WA. Shoppers at Coles in Tasmania had access to the cheapest basket of goods for this supermarket, with and without special price discounts. When comparing regular prices, the basket was $3.40 cheaper in Tasmania than in WA for the same basket of groceries.
IGA
For people shopping at IGA stores, the size of the store makes a big difference to the price you'll pay. The same basket of goods is vastly more expensive for shoppers at the smaller IGA stores in NT (noting that there are no larger IGA supermarkets in the areas we surveyed): $105.18, contrasted with the $74.76 over the border in Queensland.
In the spotlight: Washing powder
In each quarterly survey, we'll add one or two spotlight items to our basket. These items will be based on feedback from our audience about product categories they'd like us to look at. In this survey, we've looked at laundry powder.
In choosing which 2kg washing powders to survey, we selected similar house brand products from Woolworths, Coles and Aldi. As there was no house brand product available at IGA we chose a similar national brand product.
Aldi had the cheapest product, but only by $0.01 compared to the Woolworths washing powder
We found that Aldi had the cheapest product, but only by $0.01. Its Almat Laundry Powder Concentrate Tropical Escape washing powder was $5.49, compared to Woolworths' Clean Laundry Powder Tropical Bloom, which cost $5.50.
The Coles own-brand Laundry Powder Tropical Paradise was $6.20. The national brand product at IGA, Fab Laundry Washing Powder Fresh Blossoms, was $10.30 on average, based on the prices we recorded at stores across the country.
In each quarterly survey, we’ll add one or two spotlight items to our basket. In this quarter we looked at 2kg washing powder products, choosing comparable house brand products at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi and comparing to a similar national brand product from IGA.
What this means for consumers
Our baskets of goods give us a way to get a general picture of prices in the different stores and locations we visit, but it can't reveal the whole picture.
Smaller ranges, as we saw at some IGA stores, and special pricing can make a big difference to overall costs.
Nevertheless, our findings highlight several small changes you can make that can help save you money on your weekly shop. Here are three of our top tips to help you reduce what you're paying at the checkout.
- Check the unit pricing: It can be hard to compare prices of different-sized products from different brands but unit pricing lets you compare prices based on the price per unit, e.g. 100g or 1L. All supermarkets are required by law to include this information in labelling, both online and instore.
- Shop around: Switching between stores and shopping at different supermarkets to take advantage of specials can deliver significant savings.
- Change your routine: Swap expensive cuts of meat for cheaper alternatives, look at frozen fruit and veg, particularly if shopping for produce out of season and give the ugly fruit and veg a go. Also, don't be afraid to try house-brand products. Our expert testing often finds these ranges outperform more expensive options at all the supermarkets.
It won't change the fact that we're still paying more for our groceries than we were just a few years ago, but making these small changes can add up.
For example, we calculated that when comparing loose vs packaged groceries, choosing the cheapest format can save around $1900 a year.
For people who are concerned about their weekly supermarket bills, some of these small changes can help you save money, making it easier to manage budgets.
What's in our basket?
Our basket included a mix of both house-brand and national-brand items. This was true for Aldi as well as Coles, Woolworths and IGA.
We compared five supermarket own-brand products across ALL stores.
We compared two national brand products at all supermarkets (including Aldi).
We compared Aldi house brand vs a national brand for seven products.
When we compared national brand products to house brands we chose products that were neither the cheapest nor the most expensive.
For all items we compared, we considered a range of factors such as ingredient lists, country of origin, and packaging similarities to ensure we made fair comparisons. We also drew upon the experience we've gained from many years of this type of work to compile our list.
We strive to be as open and transparent as possible while at the same time maintaining the highest standards in mystery shopping and research
While we could have made the baskets cheaper at all of the supermarkets we surveyed (including Aldi), we wanted to accurately reflect the way people shop, which means including a mix of house brand and national brand items. This means that our basket for each store was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive it could be.
We strive to be as open and transparent as possible while at the same time maintaining the highest standards in mystery shopping and research. As we will track these products in the future, revealing the exact items and stores would compromise the study, which is why we don't list the exact products we compare.
How we survey supermarkets
Supermarkets and locations
We sent undercover shoppers into 104 supermarkets – 27 Woolworths, 27 Coles, 23 Aldi and 27 IGA stores – in 27 locations across Australia in June 2024. Supermarket locations were chosen to give good coverage of socio-economic status based on ABS Indexes and geographic spread across the country. We surveyed supermarkets in clusters so that each store has local competition.
Grocery basket items
Our grocery basket consisted of 14 items, 12 of which were packaged products, either national brand or comparable supermarket brand/budget brand options (including beef mince and milk), with two fresh fruit and vegetable items (apples and carrots) completing the list. We also included a spotlight item, laundry powder, in this quarter's survey.
For more details on how we survey, see How we survey supermarket grocery prices.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
