Reality behind surging grocery costs at Coles

How much has your grocery bill grown over the past few years? This new Coles promotion reveals the shocking truth.

Shopping for groceries has always been a chore.

But now it’s positively painful as the negative effect on my bank balance grows worse every week.

Logging on to do my latest online shop, I was shocked to see the ‘generous’ offer made by Coles.

Without needing any special code or meeting any absurd terms, I would be awarded a $30 discount.

Well, actually, there was one crazy condition … I would need to spend at least $370.

Even worse, I’m pretty sure it won’t be a problem to meet that obligation.

Worst of all, I am pathetically grateful for that eight per cent discount.

Welcome to 2024, where spending a minimum of $370 per week on food for a family of four is on the lower side of average.

A Coles promotion screenshot by columnist Ann Wason Moore illustrates the soaring price of groceries for the average family

Now, spending $30 less is certainly welcome, but it wasn’t so long ago that this semi-regular promotion was applied to shopping hauls with a far cheaper total, such as $10 off for $150 or $20 off for $250.

Of course, given the all-but-impossible chance that my family will ever reach such tiny totals, I suppose it doesn’t really affect me.

But it does those shoppers who, whether due to personal circumstance or limited budget, won’t reach such lofty heights as $370 on one week’s worth of groceries.

The tragic truth is I used to be one of them.

Scrolling through my history of grocery orders is like an archaeological dig into inflation. Back in 2021, our average weekly shop was around $250 but it’s been steadily rising since then, to the point that I dare not reveal our current average spend.

Indeed, the latest inflation data reveals that, over the past two years, the price of essential food items has skyrocketed, far outstripping the average rise in wages.

Finder’s recent analysis of CPI figures showed there has been a whopping 31 per cent price increase for oils and fats, while breakfast cereals, bread, cheese, eggs, and milk have all jumped between 22 per cent and 25 per cent.

That certainly explains the rise in my family’s personal grocery bill. Fortunately, the analysis also showed domestic wine prices only rose by three per cent, due to a lack of exports to China. Cheers to me for saving the family budget.

Meanwhile, Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker revealed a spike in financial anxiety caused by groceries.

This stress has almost tripled from around 15 per cent two years ago to 40 per cent today. It also tracks with the number of households under financial stress due to rental or mortgage payments.

Can we keep calling ourselves the lucky country when our two greatest national concerns are the basic human rights of food and shelter?

And while we should perhaps be grateful for the crumbs of a discounted grocery bill, it does beg the question why, if Coles could be so magnanimous as to hand out an eight per cent discount to its big spenders, it could not apply that across the board?

Honestly, there most likely are not too many that this $30 discount would not apply to, but even if there was … it’s not like the supermarket couldn’t afford it.

16/04/2024: Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci appears at the Senate Select Committee looking into Supermarket Prices

In a week where the bosses of both Coles and Woolworths were the subject of a Senate inquiry over higher prices and rising profits during the cost-of-living crisis – with outgoing Woolies CEO Brad Banducci threatened with jail time and being found in contempt of the Senate over his evasive answers – it’s really not a good look.

As consumer goods sector expert Abdel Badoura said in his evidence to the Senate select committee this week:

“Coles and Woolworths are currently running risk-free businesses. They are propped up by suppliers who are paying for the majority of their expenses, with the Australian public being overcharged at every step.

“They have gotten away with this for years due to the lack of competition in the market and their market power abuse.

“The current cost of living crisis on food has been deliberately fuelled by the greed of Coles and Woolworths.”

And to make amends they offer us, and not even all of us, a $30 discount?

Shopping for groceries might be a chore, but it shouldn’t be a punish.