Iconic Aussie supermarket staple latest product hit with price hike

An iconic supermarket item is the latest product hit with a price hike – but it’s proved too much for some Aussies: “Is nothing sacred anymore?”

Another supermarket item has fallen victim to the cost of living crisis with a price hike that will undoubtedly leave many Aussies reeling.

Our wallets have been hit hard as the cost of pantry basics have soared in recent months. We’ve copped price rises on everything from eggs, milk and even our much-loved chips (the latter of which was particularly hard to swallow).

But there’s one supermarket item that has quietly risen in price that nobody’s talking about yet – and this one truly takes the cake. Literally.

The beloved supermarket mud cake is currently priced at $5.75 in both Coles and Woolworths, and as some eagle-eyed social media users have pointed out, it is significantly higher than it used to be.

Woolworths is even selling a limited edition flavour for $6.50 at the moment.

The Australian mud cake is currently retailing for $5.75. Picture: news.com.au

While limited edition flavours cost as much as $6.50. Picture: news.com.au

But cast your mind back a few years to 2019 and the signature Australian cake retailed for $4.80. It cost even less before that, ringing up at the till at just $4.40 in 2018.

However those prices are long gone, with the bakery favourite quietly peaking at the current price of $5.75 at the end of 2022.

Sure, it’s dense and contains both milk and eggs, but there’s something positively un-Australian about forcing us to pay more than a fiver for a product adored for being “cheap and cheerful”.

And while you’d be forgiven for thinking the increase only affects the “indulgent” varieties supermarkets have been peddling recently – it has also hit the humble chocolate, white chocolate and caramel varieties.

Woolworths and Coles both told news.com.au the price of mud cakes had been “adjusted” following wholesale cost increases from suppliers as the price of raw materials rise – stressing the increase is “market wide”.

The price of Coles mud cakes has also risen to $5.75.

But despite the explanation, some customers on social media have been left with a bad taste in their mouth.

“Remember when you could get a mud cake for under $5 bucks,” one commented on a mud cake hack video shared to TikTok.

“Can’t get over the iconic mud cake costing almost $6,” another agreed.

As one very disappointed Aussie asked: “Is nothing sacred anymore?”

It’s the latest in a long line of products to cost Aussies more at the checkouts. Picture: news.com.au

Of course, increasing the price by a dollar isn’t a huge amount.

But when you consider pretty much everything else at the supermarket has gone up while wages remain stagnant, this seemingly inconspicuous price jump may not be as harmless as it seems.

Can you imagine a kids birthday without that sticky, thick chocolate cake smeared across a child’s face? Or the awkward birthday gathering at the office sans the supermarket staple?Neither.

We sucked it up when packets of chips hit pretty ludicrous prices – and many of us have switched to long-life milk to save a few dollars when the white stuff soared to almost $10 a litre.

But hitting our beloved mud cakes is just too much for us to handle.

Originally published as Iconic Aussie supermarket staple latest product hit with price hike