Consumer watchdog CHOICE has released the results of the third wave of its quarterly, government-funded report on supermarket prices across Australia.
The consumer group visited 104 supermarkets across the country in September, including ALDI, Coles, Woolworths, and IGA, and recorded the prices of 14 common grocery items. CHOICE also added two spotlight items this quarter – a leg of lamb with the bone in and 2L of ice cream.
Coles and Woolworths came equal first nationwide when looking at the best price for a leg of lamb with specials, says CHOICE CEO Ashley de Silva.
“Coles and Woolworths both sold a leg of lamb at an average of $12.89 per kilo, while ALDI came in third place at $13.99 per kilo,” he said.
“Even when taking specials out of the picture for the leg of lamb, ALDI still didn’t have the cheapest product. Without specials, Woolworths was still the cheapest, followed by ALDI, then Coles.”
For the leg of lamb comparison, mystery shoppers purchased a leg of lamb with the bone in, and the price per kilo was recorded. IGA was excluded from this price comparison as CHOICE could not consistently find a comparable item in the stores visited.
ALDI maintains cheapest overall groceries
When it came to prices for the 14-item basket, ALDI was once again the cheapest option for shoppers.
Including specials, ALDI’s basket cost on average $50.63. Coles came in next at $66.18, followed by Woolworths at $69.17. IGA was the most expensive option with their basket costing $73.80.
“When excluding specials in our basket of 14 items, the price at Aldi remained the same. However, the price at Coles increased slightly to $67.90, and at Woolworths to $69.29. An IGA basket without specials also increased to $77.57,” said Mr de Silva.
Grocery basket prices compared
CHOICE’s supermarket price research will continue every quarter for the next three years, helping people to stay on top of where they can find the cheapest groceries.
The report compares national brand or comparable supermarket brand/budget brand options. To ensure a fair comparison, like-for-like items have been chosen based on factors such as weight, ingredient lists, country of origin, and packaging similarities.
Here are the grocery basket prices (without specials) recorded so far:
March 2024: ALDI ($51.51), Woolworths ($68.58), Coles ($69.33)
June 2024: ALDI ($50.79), Woolworths ($68.70), Coles ($69.91)
September 2024: ALDI ($50.63), Coles ($67.90), Woolworths ($69.29), IGA ($77.57)