ACCC supermarkets inquiry hears high prices and shrinkflation top consumer concerns

The ACCC has begun public hearings for its inquiry into the supermarkets sector, although it won’t take evidence on the current court case on alleged ‘fake discounts’.

The ACCC has begun its public hearings for its supermarkets inquiry. Picture: Bloomberg

The consumer watchdog’s inquiry into the supermarket sector has kicked off, but it will not take evidence about the current court case the regulator is running against Woolworths and Coles over alleged ‘‘fake discounting’’.

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission deputy chairman Mick Keogh opened the public hearings for the regulator’s inquiry into the supermarkets, with a range of consumer groups, industry bodies and supermarket executives set to give testimony in coming weeks.

Mr Keogh said the inquiry was being undertaken under the direction of Treasurer Jim Chalmers, and would look at the major supermarkets, competition, pricing and the competitive nature of the $120bn sector.

He said many Australian households faces cost-of-living pressures and were struggling with bills

The boss of consumer advocacy group Choice, Ashley de Silva, said most Australian consumers remained concerned about high grocery prices.

He said according to Choice surveys, 70 per cent of consumers had been concerned about high prices from around January 2022, with that rising to above 80 per cent from March 2022 and staying at those levels.

Mr de Silva said other issues of concern included shrinkflation – where the price of an item stays the same but the size shrinks – discounting and promotion schemes, and the use of loyalty cards to offer special deals.

In her testimony Martina Kingi, a financial counsellor at Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network, said remote communities struggled to gain access to affordable and healthy produce.

In September, the ACCC released its interim report for its supermarket inquiry and labelled supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles as oligopolists with 67 per cent share of supermarket retail sales nationally, warning it would investigate whether they were misusing market power.

A final report from the ACCC is due by February.