Retailers have lambasted Choice for wasting $1.1 million in government funding on its recently published supermarket data, which priced a basket of just 14 items to determine the nation’s cheapest grocer.

“Supermarkets range thousands of products, and Australian families are often buying triple this volume in their weekly shop,” said Paul Zahra, CEO of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA).

“This report is funded by taxpayers to the tune of $1.1 milllion and disappointingly is less than transparent and continues to fall well short of the mark.”

In the report, Choice said it visited 104 supermarkets nationwide and took note of the prices of 14 common grocery items.

Choice found that the prices of both Aldi and Coles baskets, including specials, have decreased since the non-profit group’s first survey three months ago, while the cost of the Woolworths basket with specials has increased.

“Our second quarterly supermarket survey highlights the importance of clear, simple labelling, that leaves the customer in no doubt about whether a product is actually on special,” explained Ashley de Silva, Choice CEO.

The ARA, however, emphasised the importance of transparency on the data.

“Choice has confirmed that the products it has compared are not like-for-like and in the case of seven products, include comparisons between premium national brands at Coles and Woolworths with Aldi’s private label,” said Zahra.

“Customers make their own comparisons between supermarkets, and they deserve to be able to make judgments for themselves with the full information that Choice has collected.”