Price of shopper’s supermarket basket proves Australia has a serious problem

A frustrated shopper has summed up Australia’s outrageous cost of living crisis with a single image of their trolley at the supermarket.

A frustrated shopper has summed up Australia’s outrageous cost of living in a single image of their trolley at the supermarket. Source: u/braydi___

A frustrated shopper has summed up Australia’s outrageous cost of living crisis with a single image of their trolley at the supermarket.

Reddit user “braydi__” shared a picture of six bananas, a 2L bottle of milk and a loaf of Helga’s sourdough that came to $12.50 at the till.

It’s a story Aussies have come to know all too well in the years following the pandemic, which helped accelerate inflation and put strain on suppliers. The annual consumer price index inflation hit 7.3 per cent in September 2022 — its highest in more than three decades.

Goods accounted for more than three-quarters of that rise over the past year, reflecting high freight costs, supply constraints and prolonged elevated demand, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

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A frustrated shopper has summed up Australia’s outrageous cost of living in a single image of their trolley at the supermarket. Source: u/braydi___

The category of food and non-alcoholic beverages was up 9 per cent for the year and 3.2 per cent on the previous quarter.

The ABS said climbing food prices in the September quarter were influenced by supply chain disruptions, weather-related events such as flooding and increased transport and input costs.

In the 12 months to the end of September, fruit and vegetable prices skyrocketed 16.2 per cent.

Dairy was up 12.1 per cent and bread and cereal was up 10 per cent. Meat and seafood rose 7.3 per cent.

The picture attracted more than 1700 comments and counting from fellow disgruntled Australians feeling the sting of exorbitant prices at major supermarkets.

Some pointed out the shopper could have gone for less expensive items over the branded ones in their cart. Others pointed to local markets or cheaper supermarkets like Aldi to save during the price surge.

“That‘s called brand shopping — instead of content shopping. Supermarkets just love that high margin customer,” one person said.

“In Aldi or markets, this would cost $5 max. Just know where to shop,” another commented.

Meanwhile, Coles has told its suppliers to cut operational costs instead of requesting price rises, warning the supermarket giant may not accept their request for a cost increase even if they can prove their inputs have gone up.

“All businesses will incur impacts to the cost of doing business at some point,” Coles wrote to suppliers, according to The Australian, which obtained the note.

“Every business needs to turn its mind to how it can remove costs from its operations. This is something that Coles continually does and is a fundamental part of our strategy.

“Even where you can substantiate increases to cost of doing business including rising cost of inputs, Coles may not accept your request for a cost increase in full or at all.

“Coles must balance customer needs, Coles value proposition and the competitive environment. Your organisation needs to be continually reviewing how you operate to offset costs.”

Coles’ first quarter trading update showed fresh food inflation continued to be driven by bakery, with higher wheat prices, as well as fresh produce such as berries and bananas.

Coles Group chief executive Steven Cain said: “Our commitment to providing trusted value, including Australia’s widest range of own brand products and the successful introduction of ‘dropped and locked’ prices, is more relevant than ever with rising inflation placing pressure on many Australian households.”

— with Chantelle Francis

Originally published as Price of shopper’s supermarket basket proves Australia has a serious problem