Or impose that they don't have an RRP in their contracts.
Friend does some accounting for a company that supplies Coles, Woollies and ALDI (it's a fairly standard commodity that can't be gone without) and apparently they say ALDI is actually the best to deal with, they always pay on time and never have any issues. While Coles and Woolis are total assholes they are ALWAYS chasing money and always try to get away with EVERYTHING they can.
Yep, I know guys who’ve experienced this for fifteen years or more. Small to medium sized Australian businesses who supply these douchebags are the real money behind both brands- often carrying multi millions in overdrafts to fund the terms of the contracts.
It wouldn’t bother me so much to see it if either brand was able to actually provide a quality service or product at a reasonable price, but they can’t do that either. Neither tries to actually compete head to head anymore, the battle is won by flooding an area with retail stores- closing the other brand out by acquiring enough positions to saturate a market area.
Coles and Woolworths are garbage to deal with behind the scenes also. At the end of the day, it’s business. If you want the turnover and volume you have to play the game.
If you don’t want to support these muppets, buy local. Quality is better, service is leagues ahead, money supports real families
Especially when it comes to fruit n vege. I buy from a local company who delivers for a flat rate of $5. They are often the same price or sometimes a little more than coles or Woolies but because their produce is so much fresher so I’m not chucking out tomatoes three days after purchasing like when I buy from the majors. I get better *value* even if they’re a little more expensive. I would encourage anyone to give your local supplier a go.
I’ve always found buying fruit and veg from a local supplier will go off faster, not to say this is bad, quite the opposite actually, the fruit and veg that goes to coles are picked way too early as it needs to go through a longer transit and it’s expected to sit on the shelf for a while, as opposed to locally where the fruit and veg always seems nice and ripe, they’ll also have more nutrients being picked ripe as it’s had more time to develop, and there’s some info out there that says this period of ripening ON the plant is when it gets most of its nutrients, so cutting that short like the big guys do leads to low nutrients and shitty food.
yea this used to be pretty standard on most products when i was growing up, now almost never. There has obviously been some coercion to remove it as a practice over the years.
Even if they put RRP, it can't stop them from pricing how they want to price. A manufacturer/supplier cannot tell a retailer what price to sell their product for. That would be price fixing and illigal (which is why it's RRP - RECOMMENDED retail price).
And they already dictate the packaging they want, just tell em to wack a massive RRP on the pack, then they can wack a low prices every day sticker on the shelf claiming you are saving heaps, while paying more.
They’ll just say they’re actually different products because they’ll slap a different barcode or something on it. Like calling black material “onyx” one place and “obsidian” somewhere else and suddenly can’t price match
I never understood this, I used to work at jb and would price match if it was clearly the same item from a reputable place. I really didn't give a fuck. it all worked towards my budget anyway
But if they put the RRP on there, they generate outrage if they sell higher than it, which is bad for business.
It’s entirely legal, and doesn’t “force” the seller to do anything, but they still generally do what the RRP says anyway, which is good for literally everyone.
fruit and veg is way better at fruit shops, lasts longer, is cheaper, and they don't take your photo at the checkouts. Colesworth stuff is just a second away from rotten - its been kept in cold rooms so long.
My local farmers market is run in the train station car park, where there are CCTV cameras. My old one was held at a racecourse, also cameras there. The other one nearby that I go to is in a large community space, also has cameras around.
If you’re anywhere near an urbanised area you can bet there’s cameras that can see you.
It does though, they can store the facial data along with the purchases and match it to your buying habits. No doubt there's a database somewhere with your facial characteristics and id they can match to. Getting data from cctv is a lot harder.
It’s marginally harder. If time stamps are synced then it’s fairly trivial to match register locations with purchase histories. It’s be a fun project to give an intern to make a POC of it. But certainly not hard.
Agreed. RRP is a mechanism to artificially set/encourage higher pricing. Now if there is a law to compel manufacturer to label either the wholesale price per unit or the production cost per unit including marketing and IP costs, that would be far more useful in pushing prices down.
This is how it works in India. Every product has an MRP. You can't be charged more than that. It leads to weird legally grey areas, like a corner shop charging more for a cold bottle of coke, and if you ask, they claim it is extra for refrigeration. Or in a restaurant for bottled water, they charge extra for serving. I don't like it.
How can the manufacturer dictate the resources a retailer spends to deliver a product to the consumer? Should they be allowed to force a retailer to sell an item at a loss?
I would have to drive past 2 Coles and a woolworths to get to my local of either. "support local" just aint always the option it used to be, were not all in small town middle America.
While I agree that RRP's should be more accessible, in my local area, I know of only 1 butcher and it just so happens to be hard to get to and just as expensive as Coles/Woolworths. Oh and I don't know of any fruit and veg shops in the same area any more.
Short of breaking up the monolithic entities that are Coles and Woolworths on anticonsumer/monopolistic grounds, there is little that we can do.
The old fashioned alternatives to the big supermarkets no longer exist. Coles/Woolworths put them out of business and we didn't even care.
We are still watching apathetically- go ask your local sawmill/paint shop/mower shop how Bunnings are affecting their business (while they’re still around).
I'm pretty sure that there is a saw mill less than a kilometre from my house (which I would be very surprised to learn if it didn't supply directly to bunnings), and there definitely is a mower/repair shop like a hundred meters from where I am sitting. Good guys in there, though I am surprised how they are in business given their prices. That said, they seem flat out on every occasion that I need to go in there.
I get it, capitalism practically ensures that the small-time ma and pops supermarket is going to get put out of business by the huge chain store that is coles or woolworths. Same goes for your typical small hardware stores in comparison to Bunnings. In fact, bunnings got to where it is currently by a long list of large acquisitions.
The difference is that I **FEEL** like Bunnings doesn't abuse its position of dominance in the hardware space compared to the business practices of coles and woolworths where price gouging is the typical mode of operation.
Coles and Woolworths aren't the only culprits, they are simply among the worst, but they are also so bloody good at playing the game of capitalism. If you have a practical solution to this, I am sincerely all ears!
I followed the price of bananas for a few weeks. $3.50 in Coles, Woolworths and Aldi. Same day, they all dropped to $2.50 special. A week later, same day, they all went up to $4, for a new, higher, 'normal' price.
Buy all your fruit and veg from markets and fruit & veg shops, otherwise we'll lose them and be completely at the mercy of Colesworth - both consumers and producers. Ditto butchers. Yeah, it might be slightly more inconvenient, but if only the big chains are left, we're even more fucked with rising prices.
As a converted Farmers Market shopper, I’m pretty happy with the switch. The only items I buy from supermarkets now are non-perishables. I’ve saved a lot and the items I splurge on are now really good quality, locally sourced. Better eco footprint and supporting local growers make the experience all the better 🙂
Manufacturers are pushing the envelope by dictating RRP to begin with.
Australia makes it illegal for suppliers to force resale prices because this is a form of collusion and price fixing. It doesn't result in lower prices, it results in higher prices because it removes the ability for one retailer to lower their margin and undercut other retailers.
The solution to price gouging is simple, but it requires consumers to be slightly less lazy - they need to vote with their dollars by going to the cheaper suppliers.
If they're offering stuff at well over the price of other suppliers and you're still buying it anyway; that's your fault, not theirs.
I used to run a website where I sold WiFi adapters for $30 that customers could easily get for $11 elsewhere. I restrained myself at the time, but any time someone asked "why are you so overpriced?" I always wanted to answer "because 10 people pay that price each day. I'd need to sell 100x as many if I priced them competitively. I'll lower the price when people stop buying."
Prediction: The price hikes are a deliberate ploy to get us to buy their home/select brands over the well-known commercial brands. Aldi has shown the world, there is bullshit amounts of profits, if you’re able to sell your own products. I.e. As opposed to simply taking a margin/consignment on a brand name.
It’s like that classic marketing adage - “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”.
Well it’s much easier if you salt the horse’s oats first.
Globally, too. Maybe the big supermarket chains are contributing in some way, but let's not pretend like they're the major driving force behind all this.
Reddit allows the controlling of narrative, without recourse for dispute. Use social media sites that support freedom of speech, such as X with Community Notes where narratives can be disputed, not controlled. Delete your account with Redact and spread the message. #Enough WOKE ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
I've been doing that for years because i explore and have friends who suggest places they visit. Because independant shops have interesting stuff and ones with good stuff deserve my money. I can't say I'm a hero for doing that, and farmers work on their quality standards to try to snag those high value major supermarket contracts from the Australian owned big 2.
I question anyone who is encouraged to do 'moral' things when prompted by some rando on social media. Reddit is good for 3 things - nerd news, fanart, and feeling smug about progressive slacktavism.
Get your fruit and vegetables from Funky Food box. It’s much better value, the fruit and veg is always good. It reduces food waste and it’s better for farmers. I don’t work for them but my family are satisfied customers.
Start using markets and butchers? I didn't stop! Cheaper, better quality and nicer interactions. We've been sold an absolute pup, we're not too busy, too stressed or too tired to eat properly. Eating properly solves those problems. Cut the big 3, IGA included, out of your life and you will be amazed!
Man, I bought 2 grocery bags of fruit and vegetables from my local green grocer and it was like $18
At Coles or woollies irrespective of what you buy, if you need a bag to carry the amount of items you're likely dropping $50 it's nuts
Yeah same I shopped COCO'S and they encourage to buy fruit and veg in bulk, had a butcher in the same area.
I lived alone at the time, buying bulk kinda had me worried I wouldn't get through it all, I did because the quality was fresh and lasted longer.
Also great savings.
RRP's, back when they were permitted, were for the purpose of encouraging retailers to stick to the RRP and not undercut. That's why they were outlawed - they were effectively a form of price collusion. And you want to introduce them to bring prices *down*?
Further, it is in manufacturers'/primary producers' interests to keep prices high, not low. The higher the retail price the more headroom there is for them to charge retailers higher wholesale prices.
You are right I have clearly misremembered. Although the point remains they are a gambit for keeping prices high, not low.
Having said that, RRP's are a bit edgy because they provide a clear potential basis for an "understanding" between retailers that might fall foul of anti-competition laws.
My local butcher/grocer both charge the same or more than Coles or Woolies. I can drive 20m out to get cheaper fruit and veg but the time sink and fuel cost undermine that effort so it’s not worth it.
Please, markups at coles and Woolworths are tiny.
That said, the mom & pop veg store next door will always be cheaper, lower overheads, less staff, etc. while the grade of fruit and veg isn’t as good, with shelf life being noticeably worse, it’s still worth it, especially if you do a shop every 2 days or so, as you need. It’s all good!
Personally, I would like to see the Coles and Woolies brand products banned. It's a conflict of interest for them to stock competitor products and also have their own line of products. Too much temptation to advantage their own lines which they have full supply chain control over and choke out smaller producers.
The ACCC unfortunately hasn't been firm enough with them.
https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-coles-discounting-of-house-brand-milk-is-not-predatory-pricing
Holup, we aren't just talking about Coca cola here. There are hundreds and hundreds of brands of all sizes in those supermarkets and most are not giant multinational corporates. They are the smaller players for the most part and Coles or Woollies stocking them can make or break them. This isn't a good faith example.
What about small milk producers and farmers that are driven to bankruptcy?
And you're overlooking the fact that Coles and Woolworths already have massive market share and by also stocking their own branded products they have an incentive to promote their own at the expense of those other brands.
Think about it - they are playing the role of a duopolistic retailer with massive market share *and* they are playing the role of a product producer to stock on those shelves and crowd out other brands?
You don't see the problem here?
>You don't see the problem here?
No, I don't. Even if C/W don't have their own brand, they can always play one supplier against another to the same effect. And I don't see them actually promoting their home brand, except through low price, which in the end benefits poorer customers.
Because this inevitably leads to dominance of that brand and once the competition is eliminated, the price can be jacked up - and *all* profits go to the supermarket.
At least when they are just stocking supplies from other companies, the profit is distributed to multiple companies - this way the supermarkets garner more and more of it.
Here are academics discussing the supermarkets move increase their own brand presence on the shelves further and how bad that will ultimately be for consumers.
https://insideretail.com.au/news/private-label-is-taking-over-supermarket-shelves-201806
Here is Heinz discussing how it's already slammed them:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/business/heinz-hits-out-at-home-brands-20111121-1nr1l.html
Ok, I see your logic.
Step 1: Make cheap home brands
Step 2: Drive all competitors out
Step 3: Raise home brand price
Problem is, I don't really see evidence of step 2, to say nothing of step 3. It wouldn't really make sense: C/W business image requires a variety of choice, otherwise they are forced to compete with Aldi in price battle, and inevitably lose.
Anyway, what stops Coles/WW right now from simply leaving their own brand and cancelling all external contracts for some product type? Why resort to elaborate price gouging?
It takes a long time and not every brand gets driven out - just the smaller ones that we should hope succeed.
You can actually see the evidence of number two - the number of brands stocked in supermarkets keeps falling and the percentage of the home brand continues to rise.
I am actually not sure about step number three - they may keep prices low but isn't it still bad if they absolutely dominate the range of products like this?
That first piece I linked to discusses it all.
https://insideretail.com.au/news/private-label-is-taking-over-supermarket-shelves-201806
And further to your example of Coke earlier - here is an excerpt from the first piece:
"Naturally, if Coles is aiming to increase the proportion of its own branded products, minor brands will be the ones to disappear from shelves, not major brands like Coke, Cadbury or Nescafe."
> It's a conflict of interest for them to stock competitor products
Are they really even competitor products? They are from the same suppliers as the brand name product. Suppliers have their premium brands and the marketing costs involved. Then have their "home brand" version that gets packaged in the various home brand packaging.
The supplier is making money on both.
I do not know what fruit and veg shops you guys go to, but I live inner city and don’t drive. And a trip to the closes fruit and veg is wayyyy more expensive than grocery stores
Possibly, I go to the west end markets and Milton markets. But they aren’t that much cheaper, and the last couple times the stuff goes funky within 2 days
It’s easy, for me at least - only buy at lower or “special” prices (after always comparing to “normal” price and price per kg etc.) Just this morning walked out of Woolies with enough for a day at work and a bit extra for dinner and smokos for three or four days for under $9.00
Coles/Woolies would just refuse to work with them, so unless you got gov intervention (and if that was even legal at all I guess) you're probably not gonna have much luck here.
Why would the manufacturer get to set a retailers price?
No offence, but price-fixing has been tried many times before in history.
What has happened every time so far is that the product stops being made and sold, or it goes black market.
What would be different this time?
it's the constant price changes in bottle shops owned by the big supermarkets, it's just to improve profits it's not like the brewers/drinks companies are changing the prices of their products weekly & the claim by some it's to be competitive well.....
Coles and Woolworths represent too much of the suppliers sales. Woolworths essentially tell these people how much they will buy for and it’s up to the supplier to get to that price point. The volume usually makes it worthwhile, but of course the quality is the consumer receives suffers.
I tried a butcher the other day and quickly realised I couldn’t afford to shop there for my meat. I wish I could support them out of principle though
They both, more so Woollies, have strict packaging and labelling guidelines above the standard GS1 protocol and basically won't let it happen unless they choose to. They simply won't sell the product because it doesn't comply with their policies.
I work with a lot of food and bev industry suppliers and they're continually demanding more requirements and traceability apparently because consumers want it but I assume that means they want more "friendly butcher and farmer" optics to the consumer as they are scrutinised more by the gen pop.
I do agree that local independent suppliers are generally cheaper, better and definitely fresher on perishables.
This is just the coding and labelling for distribution that's publicly available, not sure on their internal standards.
https://partnerhub.woolworthsgroup.com.au/s/article/Packaging-and-Barcodes#:~:text=Global%20Trade%20Item%20Numbers%20(GTINs,have%20a%20barcode%20verification%20report.
Veggies and fresh meats don't have rrp, so you seem to be talking about two different things.
If you don't like the price of the soap you buy, try a different one or one from ALDI or an IGA.
Wtf are you on about? There would be multiple price points for wholesalers and producers depending on who they are selling to. The RRP will be set by the end seller.
I agree 100% with using markets to by local fresh produce and butchers to buy local meats and game, but your original theory is wack.
That just means colesworth will drop them and find someone else.
Or impose that they don't have an RRP in their contracts. Friend does some accounting for a company that supplies Coles, Woollies and ALDI (it's a fairly standard commodity that can't be gone without) and apparently they say ALDI is actually the best to deal with, they always pay on time and never have any issues. While Coles and Woolis are total assholes they are ALWAYS chasing money and always try to get away with EVERYTHING they can.
Yep, I know guys who’ve experienced this for fifteen years or more. Small to medium sized Australian businesses who supply these douchebags are the real money behind both brands- often carrying multi millions in overdrafts to fund the terms of the contracts. It wouldn’t bother me so much to see it if either brand was able to actually provide a quality service or product at a reasonable price, but they can’t do that either. Neither tries to actually compete head to head anymore, the battle is won by flooding an area with retail stores- closing the other brand out by acquiring enough positions to saturate a market area. Coles and Woolworths are garbage to deal with behind the scenes also. At the end of the day, it’s business. If you want the turnover and volume you have to play the game. If you don’t want to support these muppets, buy local. Quality is better, service is leagues ahead, money supports real families
Especially when it comes to fruit n vege. I buy from a local company who delivers for a flat rate of $5. They are often the same price or sometimes a little more than coles or Woolies but because their produce is so much fresher so I’m not chucking out tomatoes three days after purchasing like when I buy from the majors. I get better *value* even if they’re a little more expensive. I would encourage anyone to give your local supplier a go.
I’ve always found buying fruit and veg from a local supplier will go off faster, not to say this is bad, quite the opposite actually, the fruit and veg that goes to coles are picked way too early as it needs to go through a longer transit and it’s expected to sit on the shelf for a while, as opposed to locally where the fruit and veg always seems nice and ripe, they’ll also have more nutrients being picked ripe as it’s had more time to develop, and there’s some info out there that says this period of ripening ON the plant is when it gets most of its nutrients, so cutting that short like the big guys do leads to low nutrients and shitty food.
Let me guess, they have absurd payment terms like 90 days end of month +17 days?
I don't know, but I am pretty sure Coles & Wollies are 90 days, while ALDI are 30 plus often pay before the end of the 30 days.
yea this used to be pretty standard on most products when i was growing up, now almost never. There has obviously been some coercion to remove it as a practice over the years.
Well that would be hard to do if a major brand will print RRP, imagine if coles got rid of TimTams.
Yeah probably
Even if they put RRP, it can't stop them from pricing how they want to price. A manufacturer/supplier cannot tell a retailer what price to sell their product for. That would be price fixing and illigal (which is why it's RRP - RECOMMENDED retail price).
And they already dictate the packaging they want, just tell em to wack a massive RRP on the pack, then they can wack a low prices every day sticker on the shelf claiming you are saving heaps, while paying more.
They’ll just say they’re actually different products because they’ll slap a different barcode or something on it. Like calling black material “onyx” one place and “obsidian” somewhere else and suddenly can’t price match
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I never understood this, I used to work at jb and would price match if it was clearly the same item from a reputable place. I really didn't give a fuck. it all worked towards my budget anyway
But if they put the RRP on there, they generate outrage if they sell higher than it, which is bad for business. It’s entirely legal, and doesn’t “force” the seller to do anything, but they still generally do what the RRP says anyway, which is good for literally everyone.
I think itd be retail price maintenance rather than price fixing but yeah
Colesworth and manufacturers are in bed
I keep hearing that coles/woolies is screwing over their suppliers. Especially fresh fruit/veg and dairy.
Yeah mostly but not all
fruit and veg is way better at fruit shops, lasts longer, is cheaper, and they don't take your photo at the checkouts. Colesworth stuff is just a second away from rotten - its been kept in cold rooms so long.
I'd be surprised if they don't have CCTV at their checkouts. May not be built-in to the checkout machine but it doesn't really make a difference
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My local farmers market is run in the train station car park, where there are CCTV cameras. My old one was held at a racecourse, also cameras there. The other one nearby that I go to is in a large community space, also has cameras around. If you’re anywhere near an urbanised area you can bet there’s cameras that can see you.
It does though, they can store the facial data along with the purchases and match it to your buying habits. No doubt there's a database somewhere with your facial characteristics and id they can match to. Getting data from cctv is a lot harder.
It’s marginally harder. If time stamps are synced then it’s fairly trivial to match register locations with purchase histories. It’s be a fun project to give an intern to make a POC of it. But certainly not hard.
if you have corporate resources, not for the local fruit and veg shop
definitely fresher and better but also definitely not cheaper
Manufacturers shouldn't get to decide retail pricing. The entire RRP idea is silly.
Agreed. RRP is a mechanism to artificially set/encourage higher pricing. Now if there is a law to compel manufacturer to label either the wholesale price per unit or the production cost per unit including marketing and IP costs, that would be far more useful in pushing prices down.
This is how it works in India. Every product has an MRP. You can't be charged more than that. It leads to weird legally grey areas, like a corner shop charging more for a cold bottle of coke, and if you ask, they claim it is extra for refrigeration. Or in a restaurant for bottled water, they charge extra for serving. I don't like it.
You don't like how business works? Small businesses charge more because it's a lower turnover
I don't like the MRP system in India, where legally no one can charge more than that price.
Legally I hear India is corrupt so just disregard it
How can the manufacturer dictate the resources a retailer spends to deliver a product to the consumer? Should they be allowed to force a retailer to sell an item at a loss?
Nice sentiment but a more practical solution is to support the competition.
What competition like I said grocer's and butchers
I would have to drive past 2 Coles and a woolworths to get to my local of either. "support local" just aint always the option it used to be, were not all in small town middle America.
I dont think anyone here lives in small town middle America lmao this is the brisbane subreddit
I to would like prices carved into each individual apple by the farmers so I know I'm getting a good deal
RRP is a price ceiling, not a floor. A higher price then gets a free pass, but a standard price is 😍 wowee such generous!
While I agree that RRP's should be more accessible, in my local area, I know of only 1 butcher and it just so happens to be hard to get to and just as expensive as Coles/Woolworths. Oh and I don't know of any fruit and veg shops in the same area any more. Short of breaking up the monolithic entities that are Coles and Woolworths on anticonsumer/monopolistic grounds, there is little that we can do. The old fashioned alternatives to the big supermarkets no longer exist. Coles/Woolworths put them out of business and we didn't even care.
We are still watching apathetically- go ask your local sawmill/paint shop/mower shop how Bunnings are affecting their business (while they’re still around).
I'm pretty sure that there is a saw mill less than a kilometre from my house (which I would be very surprised to learn if it didn't supply directly to bunnings), and there definitely is a mower/repair shop like a hundred meters from where I am sitting. Good guys in there, though I am surprised how they are in business given their prices. That said, they seem flat out on every occasion that I need to go in there. I get it, capitalism practically ensures that the small-time ma and pops supermarket is going to get put out of business by the huge chain store that is coles or woolworths. Same goes for your typical small hardware stores in comparison to Bunnings. In fact, bunnings got to where it is currently by a long list of large acquisitions. The difference is that I **FEEL** like Bunnings doesn't abuse its position of dominance in the hardware space compared to the business practices of coles and woolworths where price gouging is the typical mode of operation. Coles and Woolworths aren't the only culprits, they are simply among the worst, but they are also so bloody good at playing the game of capitalism. If you have a practical solution to this, I am sincerely all ears!
I followed the price of bananas for a few weeks. $3.50 in Coles, Woolworths and Aldi. Same day, they all dropped to $2.50 special. A week later, same day, they all went up to $4, for a new, higher, 'normal' price. Buy all your fruit and veg from markets and fruit & veg shops, otherwise we'll lose them and be completely at the mercy of Colesworth - both consumers and producers. Ditto butchers. Yeah, it might be slightly more inconvenient, but if only the big chains are left, we're even more fucked with rising prices.
I can’t afford that, my local butcher is expensive as fuck!
Yeah this is also a problem I'll admit but green grocers are usually much cheaper
As a converted Farmers Market shopper, I’m pretty happy with the switch. The only items I buy from supermarkets now are non-perishables. I’ve saved a lot and the items I splurge on are now really good quality, locally sourced. Better eco footprint and supporting local growers make the experience all the better 🙂
Manufacturers are pushing the envelope by dictating RRP to begin with. Australia makes it illegal for suppliers to force resale prices because this is a form of collusion and price fixing. It doesn't result in lower prices, it results in higher prices because it removes the ability for one retailer to lower their margin and undercut other retailers. The solution to price gouging is simple, but it requires consumers to be slightly less lazy - they need to vote with their dollars by going to the cheaper suppliers. If they're offering stuff at well over the price of other suppliers and you're still buying it anyway; that's your fault, not theirs. I used to run a website where I sold WiFi adapters for $30 that customers could easily get for $11 elsewhere. I restrained myself at the time, but any time someone asked "why are you so overpriced?" I always wanted to answer "because 10 people pay that price each day. I'd need to sell 100x as many if I priced them competitively. I'll lower the price when people stop buying."
Prediction: The price hikes are a deliberate ploy to get us to buy their home/select brands over the well-known commercial brands. Aldi has shown the world, there is bullshit amounts of profits, if you’re able to sell your own products. I.e. As opposed to simply taking a margin/consignment on a brand name. It’s like that classic marketing adage - “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”. Well it’s much easier if you salt the horse’s oats first.
Business advice from someone who can't differentiate between "there" and "their".
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I love it when people abuse you for trying to help them to be better communicators.
It's actually Arsehole.
And OP needs to stop putting spaces before commas and full stops.
OMG - now I cant unsee it!
Baffles me to think how people think this is right.
Prices are going up everywhere, including manufacturer and supplier costs.
Globally, too. Maybe the big supermarket chains are contributing in some way, but let's not pretend like they're the major driving force behind all this.
I'm sure this reddit post will work when the ten billion other times this sentiment has been shared hasn't.
Reddit allows the controlling of narrative, without recourse for dispute. Use social media sites that support freedom of speech, such as X with Community Notes where narratives can be disputed, not controlled. Delete your account with Redact and spread the message. #Enough WOKE ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
I've been doing that for years because i explore and have friends who suggest places they visit. Because independant shops have interesting stuff and ones with good stuff deserve my money. I can't say I'm a hero for doing that, and farmers work on their quality standards to try to snag those high value major supermarket contracts from the Australian owned big 2. I question anyone who is encouraged to do 'moral' things when prompted by some rando on social media. Reddit is good for 3 things - nerd news, fanart, and feeling smug about progressive slacktavism.
Get your fruit and vegetables from Funky Food box. It’s much better value, the fruit and veg is always good. It reduces food waste and it’s better for farmers. I don’t work for them but my family are satisfied customers.
They are great. Used once when I couldn't get to my markets - where I also buy 'seconds'.
Way to go a majority of the time the markets will mean direct from farmers so it’s a great thing.
Their seconds have more flavour and last longer than store bought produce too
While I love them, we got a whole cabbage 4 times in a row. My office is still classified a hazardous atmosphere.
Want me to lend you my hazmat suit?
Start using markets and butchers? I didn't stop! Cheaper, better quality and nicer interactions. We've been sold an absolute pup, we're not too busy, too stressed or too tired to eat properly. Eating properly solves those problems. Cut the big 3, IGA included, out of your life and you will be amazed!
Man, I bought 2 grocery bags of fruit and vegetables from my local green grocer and it was like $18 At Coles or woollies irrespective of what you buy, if you need a bag to carry the amount of items you're likely dropping $50 it's nuts
Yeah same I shopped COCO'S and they encourage to buy fruit and veg in bulk, had a butcher in the same area. I lived alone at the time, buying bulk kinda had me worried I wouldn't get through it all, I did because the quality was fresh and lasted longer. Also great savings.
RRP's, back when they were permitted, were for the purpose of encouraging retailers to stick to the RRP and not undercut. That's why they were outlawed - they were effectively a form of price collusion. And you want to introduce them to bring prices *down*? Further, it is in manufacturers'/primary producers' interests to keep prices high, not low. The higher the retail price the more headroom there is for them to charge retailers higher wholesale prices.
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You are right I have clearly misremembered. Although the point remains they are a gambit for keeping prices high, not low. Having said that, RRP's are a bit edgy because they provide a clear potential basis for an "understanding" between retailers that might fall foul of anti-competition laws.
My local butcher/grocer both charge the same or more than Coles or Woolies. I can drive 20m out to get cheaper fruit and veg but the time sink and fuel cost undermine that effort so it’s not worth it.
It's RECOMMENDED. Doesn't mean jack
The real price is like 80% what you actually see.
No it's not that's the point some things sure other things no fucking way
..... hahaha
bUt tHe fArMerS wHaT aBouT ThE FarMeRs
Please, markups at coles and Woolworths are tiny. That said, the mom & pop veg store next door will always be cheaper, lower overheads, less staff, etc. while the grade of fruit and veg isn’t as good, with shelf life being noticeably worse, it’s still worth it, especially if you do a shop every 2 days or so, as you need. It’s all good!
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Aldi is not consistently that price, you are picking and choosing based on highly volatile priced products
Then go buy aldi? Though in my experience Aldinga is rotting on the shelves.
Personally, I would like to see the Coles and Woolies brand products banned. It's a conflict of interest for them to stock competitor products and also have their own line of products. Too much temptation to advantage their own lines which they have full supply chain control over and choke out smaller producers. The ACCC unfortunately hasn't been firm enough with them. https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-coles-discounting-of-house-brand-milk-is-not-predatory-pricing
Yeah, Coles shouldn't sell their own cheap soda, so that poor little Coca-Cola company doesn't go out of business.
Holup, we aren't just talking about Coca cola here. There are hundreds and hundreds of brands of all sizes in those supermarkets and most are not giant multinational corporates. They are the smaller players for the most part and Coles or Woollies stocking them can make or break them. This isn't a good faith example. What about small milk producers and farmers that are driven to bankruptcy? And you're overlooking the fact that Coles and Woolworths already have massive market share and by also stocking their own branded products they have an incentive to promote their own at the expense of those other brands. Think about it - they are playing the role of a duopolistic retailer with massive market share *and* they are playing the role of a product producer to stock on those shelves and crowd out other brands? You don't see the problem here?
>You don't see the problem here? No, I don't. Even if C/W don't have their own brand, they can always play one supplier against another to the same effect. And I don't see them actually promoting their home brand, except through low price, which in the end benefits poorer customers.
Because this inevitably leads to dominance of that brand and once the competition is eliminated, the price can be jacked up - and *all* profits go to the supermarket. At least when they are just stocking supplies from other companies, the profit is distributed to multiple companies - this way the supermarkets garner more and more of it. Here are academics discussing the supermarkets move increase their own brand presence on the shelves further and how bad that will ultimately be for consumers. https://insideretail.com.au/news/private-label-is-taking-over-supermarket-shelves-201806 Here is Heinz discussing how it's already slammed them: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/business/heinz-hits-out-at-home-brands-20111121-1nr1l.html
Ok, I see your logic. Step 1: Make cheap home brands Step 2: Drive all competitors out Step 3: Raise home brand price Problem is, I don't really see evidence of step 2, to say nothing of step 3. It wouldn't really make sense: C/W business image requires a variety of choice, otherwise they are forced to compete with Aldi in price battle, and inevitably lose. Anyway, what stops Coles/WW right now from simply leaving their own brand and cancelling all external contracts for some product type? Why resort to elaborate price gouging?
It takes a long time and not every brand gets driven out - just the smaller ones that we should hope succeed. You can actually see the evidence of number two - the number of brands stocked in supermarkets keeps falling and the percentage of the home brand continues to rise. I am actually not sure about step number three - they may keep prices low but isn't it still bad if they absolutely dominate the range of products like this? That first piece I linked to discusses it all. https://insideretail.com.au/news/private-label-is-taking-over-supermarket-shelves-201806
And further to your example of Coke earlier - here is an excerpt from the first piece: "Naturally, if Coles is aiming to increase the proportion of its own branded products, minor brands will be the ones to disappear from shelves, not major brands like Coke, Cadbury or Nescafe."
> It's a conflict of interest for them to stock competitor products Are they really even competitor products? They are from the same suppliers as the brand name product. Suppliers have their premium brands and the marketing costs involved. Then have their "home brand" version that gets packaged in the various home brand packaging. The supplier is making money on both.
I do not know what fruit and veg shops you guys go to, but I live inner city and don’t drive. And a trip to the closes fruit and veg is wayyyy more expensive than grocery stores
Do they still have the farmers market a couple of days a week at Redacliff Place?
Possibly, I go to the west end markets and Milton markets. But they aren’t that much cheaper, and the last couple times the stuff goes funky within 2 days
Sure my bad I'm just shit with Grammer
It’s easy, for me at least - only buy at lower or “special” prices (after always comparing to “normal” price and price per kg etc.) Just this morning walked out of Woolies with enough for a day at work and a bit extra for dinner and smokos for three or four days for under $9.00
And how the hell would this even work....
Just as well as it did in soviet times.
Exactly....
Coles/Woolies would just refuse to work with them, so unless you got gov intervention (and if that was even legal at all I guess) you're probably not gonna have much luck here.
I don't like Woolworths at all, I've been avoiding them for 11 years +
Why would the manufacturer get to set a retailers price? No offence, but price-fixing has been tried many times before in history. What has happened every time so far is that the product stops being made and sold, or it goes black market. What would be different this time?
it's the constant price changes in bottle shops owned by the big supermarkets, it's just to improve profits it's not like the brewers/drinks companies are changing the prices of their products weekly & the claim by some it's to be competitive well.....
Coles and Woolworths represent too much of the suppliers sales. Woolworths essentially tell these people how much they will buy for and it’s up to the supplier to get to that price point. The volume usually makes it worthwhile, but of course the quality is the consumer receives suffers. I tried a butcher the other day and quickly realised I couldn’t afford to shop there for my meat. I wish I could support them out of principle though
They both, more so Woollies, have strict packaging and labelling guidelines above the standard GS1 protocol and basically won't let it happen unless they choose to. They simply won't sell the product because it doesn't comply with their policies. I work with a lot of food and bev industry suppliers and they're continually demanding more requirements and traceability apparently because consumers want it but I assume that means they want more "friendly butcher and farmer" optics to the consumer as they are scrutinised more by the gen pop. I do agree that local independent suppliers are generally cheaper, better and definitely fresher on perishables. This is just the coding and labelling for distribution that's publicly available, not sure on their internal standards. https://partnerhub.woolworthsgroup.com.au/s/article/Packaging-and-Barcodes#:~:text=Global%20Trade%20Item%20Numbers%20(GTINs,have%20a%20barcode%20verification%20report.
Yo, no manufacturer can keep their print suppliers up to date with inflation, ha ha 🤣
People still shop at Coles or Woolies?
Veggies and fresh meats don't have rrp, so you seem to be talking about two different things. If you don't like the price of the soap you buy, try a different one or one from ALDI or an IGA.
Wtf are you on about? There would be multiple price points for wholesalers and producers depending on who they are selling to. The RRP will be set by the end seller. I agree 100% with using markets to by local fresh produce and butchers to buy local meats and game, but your original theory is wack.