Discount supermarket chain Aldi has been crowned the cheapest supermarket in Australia above rivals Coles and Woolworths.
The latest CHOICE supermarket price survey found consumers can save nearly $80 a shop by switching from leading brands to a basket of Aldi budget products.
The survey compares the average cost of 33 popular products at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi across 110 Australian supermarkets, including Nutri-grain, OMO laundry detergent, Tim Tam, Coca Cola, Dairy Farmers Milk and five fresh fruit and vegetables.
Coles was named the most expensive grocer of leading brands ($170.54) only marginally ahead of Woolworths ($168.74).
However consumers were found to be paying only $91.76 for a similar basket of Aldi budget brands.
“Although the big supermarkets make a lot of very loud claims about value, it’s clear Aldi is Australia’s cheapest supermarket and it is forcing the big two to compete on price,” CHOICE spokesman Tom Godfrey said on Tuesday.
Non-Aldi states such as Tasmania and the Northern Territory are serving up some of the most expensive leading brand baskets, but in South Australia and Western Australia, Aldi’s push is helping to deliver the cheapest leading brand prices at around $168 in those states, Godfrey said.
“It is clear when you look at the prices across the baskets, that Aldi is the price leader and those states with Aldis are keen to have cheaper leading brand prices,” Godfrey told AAP.
He said shoppers have become more cautious in recent years of how much they are spending on groceries amid rising consumer prices.
“There is no doubt that family budgets are under a great deal of pressure,” he said, adding it is little surprise that price is the deciding factor in what to buy and where to shop.
Despite its cheaper prices, the German retailer is lagging behind Coles and Woolworths when it comes to stocking leading brand items and products with some Australian ingredients.
The nationwide study found of the 28 food items in the basket, Coles supermarket brand basket had 22 containing at least some Australian ingredients, Woolworths had 21, while Aldi only had 17.
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