Supermarkets
It’s taken a few tests but I’ve finally figured out why it’s so hard to watch the new Kmart ad without grimacing. Have you seen it? It’s the one where an attractive young mum pushes a stroller through Kmart with one hand, balances a two-year old on her hip and talks on her mobile phone with the other, while the older child (my guess about five years of age?) runs ahead of her.
Cue super helpful Kmart guy who comes to the rescue, somehow managing to both read her mind and reach for the most hard-to-get kettle on the shelf, deposit it into the hands of the renegade five year old and not for a single second interrupt the woman’s phone-call.
The result, a wonderfully apt depiction of all the things that drive me nuts about shopping centres, specifically supermarkets and the pesky little habits they bring out in even the best of people.
Continue reading "Don’t bring your kids and other supermarket rules" »
With a federal election fast approaching it’s time for voters to start evaluating Mr Rudd’s performance on supermarket issues.
For Mr Rudd there is no escaping that grocery prices remain literally a bread and butter issue for all Australians.
With struggling families certainly not pleased with ever rising grocery prices and with swinging voters unlikely to be impressed with the fact that Australia still faces some of the highest levels of food inflation in the developed world, Mr Rudd certainly has some convincing to do.
Continue reading "What are you really doing about grocery prices, PM?" »
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John A Neve says:
True Believer, I find this a classic, I ask three questions, from this you, Davido and Iva come up with three versions of what I thought am thinking or support !!! Maybe you should all pool your brains, then you all might make some sense. Read more »
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John A Neve says:
Davido, You have not improved have you, this is in a par with another or your posts. Free Enterprise and competition produces fewer and fewer suppliers. The successful gobbly up the weaker, if you don’t accept that, there is no hope for you. Although based on some of your past… Read more »
Well, well, we’ve had another couple of rounds in the battle of the supermarket PR wars. First, we saw Woolworths and Coles continue their expensive media campaigns telling us about their “single pricing policy.” Then last week came the launch of the Woolworths “price check” website.
On each occasion we were told how “good” the particular announcement was for consumers only to find that the supermarket chains had failed to give consumers the full picture. Statements were made about “price cuts,” but consumers didn’t get the full list of products affected and the price changes.
Woolworths, for example, repeatedly told us that the price of 3,500 products had been reduced and now the prices of those products were lower than a year ago. We are still to get the full list of 3,500 items and price reductions. We are also yet to be told whether there have been any price rises on any of the other 26,500 or more products typically sold at a Woolworths or Coles supermarket.
Continue reading "The supermarkets’ ongoing ‘conspiracy against the poor’" »
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Suzanne says:
Well Coles is absolutely fantastic to shop at. The small shops are the ones that rip off the customers. IGA and Aldi are untidy and not cheap. I think some people seem to think Coles and Wollies should give their items away. Do not forget the wonderful staff they employ… Read more »
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Davido says:
This is so wrong it is not even a joke. You most definitely can have free enterprise and government regulation. They often, if done correctly, work hand in hand. Indeed, market failures like those allowing unfair competition in Australia require governments to step in. And yes, I do have a… Read more »
Last week we were treated to a bizarre week of self-congratulatory media releases by Coles and Woolworths. Was this just another round of spin from the chains or were we finally seeing some real “action”? Well, only time will tell and until will see all the details from Coles and Woolworths the jury will be out.
Let’s look at the PR trail last week. First, we had Coles announce on Australia Day that as of 1 February it was moving to a single national price for 8,000 grocery items and that 97% of products would have the same price within a State.
Why Australia Day? Well there are a couple of theories. Announcing price changes on Australia Day could be seen as patriotic. The other possibility being that Australia Day is ordinarily a “slow” day for business media stories and a “feel good” story may get some attention.
Continue reading "Check it out - a bizarre week of supermarket spin" »
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SteveB says:
I have to agree, if there really needs to be legislation about this then it should only cover the ‘truth in advertising’ aspect, if one of the chains claims to be using single lowest pricing, then they must be able to prove it, it’s a marketing method, like ‘lowest price… Read more »
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Iva Tarbell says:
T.Chong you have it so WRONG. The Blacktown amendment which prohibits Geographic Price Discrimination within a 35km radius, is all about protecting competition and ensuring the very survival of the free market system. Without any prohibition on Geographic Price Discrimination (as is the current situation in Australia), a multi-chain retailer… Read more »
We live in a society where almost everything can be purchased single serve, individually wrapped and stuffed with enough preservatives to last a life-time – a very short life-time for most of us if we don’t pick up some slack.
A simple fact of life is that some things just come in packets. Bread, even from a bakery, comes in a plastic bag. We don’t go the butcher to be handed a handful of mince meat, and a carton of milk wouldn’t be much chop without the carton.
Beyond that simple carton of milk, it is easy to cut corners with pre-packaged ingredients: garlic from a jar, powdered stock, instant noodles, canned vegetables and packet mixes. I too am guilty of pre-prepared ingredients in times of need. It seems easy to buy a packet mix, add meat and pre-chopped vegetables and microwave some pre-boiled vacuum packed rice than cook from scratch – but it’s not real food. We are sacrificing our health, and the environment, to eat food that brings instant gratification but no satisfaction - the idea that it takes a long time to make something from scratch is a myth.
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DocBud says:
davd, Apart from the fact that those actually whinging are those moaning about excess packaging whereas you are clearly referring to those of us who don’t see it as a big problem, you clearly have used a strawman argument. You have not tried to engage in debate and discuss any… Read more »
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david says:
DocBud, no strawman here. No misrepresentation of the whingers argument. Just observing that they sound like the people who objected to lead being removed from petrol. Read more »
As with all governments there is the irresistible urge to pass the buck as a way of trying to deflect voters from the government’s inaction on a particular issue.
Sadly when it comes to buck passing the Federal Government has been in top form during 2009.
We saw the buck passing on the GROCERYchoice debacle in June when the Federal Government pulled the plug on the consumer group Choice before Choice could launch a new revamped website to bring about much needed real transparency on grocery prices.
Continue reading "Thanks for doing nothing for consumers in 09 Mr Rudd" »
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Max says:
@Persephone: Actually petrol prices have gone up considerably. Before the GFC the AUD was low (about US0.75) crude oil prices were high ($140/barrell) and petrol was about $1.30/L. Now the AUD is over USD0.90 and crude oil is $75/barrell but fuel is still $1.20/L. Rudd didn’t do much to stop… Read more »
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South Aussie says:
Persephone No you didn’t. Read more »
The journey started a few years back when a tomato and pumpkin self seeded in the mulch in our backyard.
And it’s culminated now with me doing my best to avoid the supermarket for fruit, vegetables and meat by producing my own.
And in between - while I profess no inside knowledge about trends in food shopping - I have concluded that when blokes like me start talking about self sufficiency, the retail supermarket giants have to lift their game.
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Michael says:
I’ve got a massive veggie garden, don’t know why you guys are having such problems with pests, I just did some spraying with home made onion, chilli and garlic pesticide/repellent, companion planted and left the lady beetles to their thing and their all gone now. Got a 200 ltr barrel… Read more »
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watto says:
David,the thing I don’t understand about you religious types believing in gods and the inherent goodness of capitalism, is Jesus was a communist who preached sharing and valuing people before greed. He was a bleeding heart that hung out with societies poor and marginalised. Jesus performed feats that New Agers… Read more »
It’s easy to lay the blame of rising food prices at the feet of the large retailers and it also makes for a sexy, albeit misguided, headline. The easy target is often the large target, but if you strip the emotion out of this debate and look at the facts, its clear there isn’t much of a story in it at all.
It is true food costs more than it did 10 years ago. Like other products and services including education, healthcare, the cost of living increases over time, but so do wages. Australian private sector earnings have risen by nearly 51 per cent since 2000.
Australia’s real growth in wages is the second highest of 10 developed nations. But you won’t see critics talk about this when they talk about food prices. It ruins the hot headline.
Continue reading "The real facts about food prices spoil a good yarn" »
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Michael says:
Don’t forget the effect free trade has had on our market, plenty of US produce coming to our shores now days and unlike our farmers they are heavily subsidised. I know of at least one orange farm that doesn’t harvest its oranges any more because they can’t compete with Californian… Read more »
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Jeff from Meroo says:
Murray and DG: I appreciate that if my salary has increased, that means everyone int the supply chain that provides every service I consume has also had a salary increase. That said lets take Coles as the example. what was their profit in 1999 and what is it now? If… Read more »
It’s official. We are getting ripped off on food and grocery prices.
A review of OECD statistics over the past 10 years clearly demonstrates that Australia consistently has some of the highest levels of food inflation in the developed world.
This is a wake-up call for Federal Minster for Competition Policy and Consumers Affair, Craig Emerson. The evidence of the power of the supermarket duopoly is now overwhelming and the Minister must move quickly to inject new competition into the Australian grocery sector.
Continue reading "Mr Emerson, tear down this supermarket duopoly" »
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Cameron Price-Austin says:
@COF I think you mis-understood my suggestion. I’m not suggesting the prices themselves be regulated—the supermarkets could still set their own prices. However, if a supermarket owns more than one outlet, the price for an item in each outlet must be identical. For example, the price of a hot chicken… Read more »
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E says:
blah blah blah .. the salient question is ‘Why have Aussie prices risen faster than the rest of the world?’ , thats it. Also ‘consumers create monopolies’ what a load, the ‘competitors’ which were bought out by Woolies/coles were not broke, they were viable businesses. The consumers were happily choosing… Read more »
Nothing hits a family’s weekly budget harder than increases in the costs of daily essentials like food. Price hikes at the supermarket make consumers angry and politicians nervous.
And all shoppers know that the price of many staples have increased over recent years.
This was highlighted by the latest OECD figures showing the cost of feeding an average family has risen about 40 per cent in Australia over the past decade. So who is to blame – major supermarkets, manufacturers, the government?
Continue reading "It might look bad, but food isn’t actually that expensive" »
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Mark says:
The “Strengthening of the Australian Dollar” would not be an issue affecting grocery prices if more fresh produce was sourced locally instead of from cheap price fluctuating imports. Read more »
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Daniel says:
This woman Kate Carnell is the same woman that has no issues with salt levels in Australian foods.Remember that. Read more »
With the 4 major banks pushing up interest rates at will and the Federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan, looking increasingly impotent when trying to bring them into line, it’s clear that competition in the banking sector is being killed off quickly and dramatically to the detriment of struggling Australian families.
So, what’s killing off competition in the banking sector?
Well, the answer is the same as to what’s killing off competition in groceries, liquor and petrol; just to name a few.
Continue reading "Why do the big four banks rule? Go to the supermarket" »
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John says:
If you look around and do not get hung up on “Brand Power” you can still find successful smaller operators such as Aldi’s as well as well run independent fruit markets, butchers and delicatessens. The Government cannot interfere with successful businesses. ABC Learning brought about its own destruction with poor… Read more »
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Limp wrist says:
Watching the debate about who was to blame for the demise of ABC childcare centre business Rudd stated no company should have more than 10% in any market . That was a thundering statement that I figured would impact Woolworths and Coles. How wrong I was. Read more »
So how do companies like Coles and Woolworths protect themselves from competition?
Well it’s simple really. All they need to do is keep out new competitors through a variety of practices designed to lock out any potential new rivals.
For starters, Coles and Woolworths have been entering into leases with shopping centre landlords preventing the landlords from allowing other supermarkets into the shopping centre.
Continue reading "Coles and Woolies are still getting away with it" »
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Robert Barton says:
Mirvac’s Broadway Shopping Centre has 2 supermarkets, Coles and BiLo, both owned by the same company. Since march 2003 when I moved to Glebe I have endeavoured to get an answer from the ACCC regarding the lack of compettition, to no avail. Incidently nor have I received an answer from… Read more »
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Iva Tarbell says:
So how do companies like Coles and Woolworths protect themselves from competition ??? Good question Professor !!! You are quiet right in pointing out the tricks that Coles and Woolworths have up their sleeves, but or course, it also helps to have good friends at the ACCC. Firstly, the “immediate… Read more »
Everybody loves to complain when the price of bread, milk, cheese and other household staples creep up.
Like rising interest rates and the price of petrol, increasing food prices provoke anger and frustration among many struggling Australians families.
So it is not surprising that fluctuating food prices are regularly blamed on food and grocery companies and supermarkets.
Continue reading "Don’t blame supermarkets for price rises" »
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cat says:
Even the Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke recently suggested that farmers are being treated unfairly as they’re told what they will be paid for their product, regardless of how much it has cost them to produce it. eg dairy farmers in sa getting about 26c per litre, down about 30%… Read more »
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Charlie says:
Is this all The Punch is able to provide? Puff pieces from industry? What a joke. Read more »
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