Woolworths confirms change to 25 cent paper bags

Woolworths has confirmed it has changed the size of its reusable paper shopping bags, in a move that has upset some customers.

Woolworths has confirmed it has changed the size of its reusable paper shopping bags, six months after rolling them out to all stores across Australia.

In a move that’s put some shoppers off side, the supermarket giant has reduced the height of its 25c bags to streamline its packaging for purchases both in-store and online.

“We have recently changed the height of our paper shopping bags in our stores to match the size of the paper bags we use for online deliveries,” a Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au.

“Many of our online orders are picked and packed in store, so having one consistent size for all our paper bags helps simplify our processes.

“The updated paper bag is now 3.5cm shorter, representing a slight reduction in the bag’s overall volume. It has been tested to ensure it will still carry the same weight of groceries (6kg).”

Woolworths has confirmed it has changed the size of its reusable paper shopping bags, six months after rolling them out to all stores across Australia. Picture: TikTok

News.com.au understands the change in bag size is not brand new, and has been rolled out over the past few months. The shape is designed specifically to fit inside the home-delivery crates.

That hasn’t stopped some customers, however, from drawing attention to it on social media.

In an impassioned video on TikTok on Wednesday, user @bradenjonanderson labelled the alteration as a “ripoff”.

Another shopper, posting to X, also questioned the move.

“Current paper bags are 1 inch smaller that (sic) the bag I purchased last week but you haven’t lowered the price we DO NOT want smaller bags,” she wrote.

Woolworths finished phasing out its reusable plastic bags across in the country in June. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Roy VanDerVegt

Woolworths finished phasing out its reusable plastic bags across the country in June, a process that began last year.

Woolworths Supermarkets director of stores, Jeanette Fenske, said in April the grocery store was “excited” to “complete our national journey to remove the 15-cent plastic shopping bags from all our stores nationwide”.

“Having reusable bags on hand has become second nature for many shoppers, and so far we have seen our customers embrace this change with their usual eagerness to do good for the environment,” Ms Fenske added.

“We’re proud to be the first major supermarket to commit to removing these plastic shopping bags from our stores, and this change is an important step towards more sustainable grocery shopping across the country.”