Supermarket investigation finds customers ‘tricked’ by pricing tactics

Choosing fruit, vegetables and other household essentials on your supermarket shop can mean some quick calculations to work out exactly what you need – and whether it’s worth getting a pre-packaged item, or buying it loose.

Now a investigation by consumer group Choice has found choosing loose foods, instead of pre-packaged, can save shoppers hundreds of dollars a year — in most cases anyway. 

To gather their results, Choice compared the unit prices of 34 different foods sold in both loose and pre-packed forms. While loose produce was cheapest 53 per cent of the time, some products including carrots, mixed lettuce leaves, limes, onions, sweet potatoes and washed potatoes – sold in both Coles and Woolworths – were cheaper packaged in advance.

So, rather than relying on the premise that ‘loose is best’, customers are advised to stop and compare unit prices instead. 

Read more: How to identify the best fruit and veggies at the supermarket

The investigation ultimately found that by comparing the unit prices of loose and pre-packaged products, people could save up to $1600 a year on their weekly shop. But with unclear and varied labels, many people are left confused when trying to figure out which option is more affordable.

The group’s Campaigns and Policy team leader, Katinka Day, admitted the system isn’t “perfect”, and added: “Whether it’s price tags that are too small to read, displaying different units of measurement or hiding the labels behind another sign, retailers make it difficult for consumers to find the best value product.

“Our investigation found several examples of how retailers trick the system to confuse shoppers.”

The group used an example from Woolworths’ online store, which gives the unit price per 100g for packaged Bird’s Eye and jalapeño chillies, but per kilogram to buy them loose. Meanwhile, at Aldi, it’s necessary to weigh some items to compare prices. A five-pack of lemons costs $3.99 (80 cents each according to the unit price label), but the loose lemons are $5.99 per kg.

Read more: Remember when your supermarket trips looked like this?

Choice went on to compare more prices of loose and pre-packaged items at Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, to work out how much shoppers could save by spending some extra time doing the maths.

“By using unit pricing to choose the cheapest food, our shoppers saved 20 per cent at Aldi (on six items). There was a 19 per cent saving on the grocery bill at Coles and Woolworths (on 28 and 30 items respectively),” Day added.

If one of those baskets represented your weekly shop, those savings could stack up to a staggering $1600 a year.

In response to the results, Choice has launched a new unit pricing complaints tool, allowing customers to report poor or unclear labels.

Do you compare unit prices when you shop?