The new grocery war forcing shoppers like you to miss out

Coles has slashed the price of its roast chickens from $11 to $8, but an increasing number of shoppers have found they can’t buy a hot chook at their local deli now.

In a new advertising campaign, Coles declares its own brand Hot Roast Chicken from the deli will be “$8 every day (and) was $11 each Jan 2016”.

“Freshly cooked in store daily”, this Coles billboard also reads. “RSPCA approved farming”.

The price certainly sounds good, particularly for families wanting to share a chook with some vegetables for dinner.

Though as 68-year-old Thomas Vinripple explained, “I haven’t been able to buy a roast chook from Coles since prices went down”.

“Three times my wife and I have planned to have roast chicken sandwiches for lunch, and then clean up the leftovers for dinner. One chook could last us a couple of days, so $8 is a good price”.

“But every time I walk down to Coles, they are absolutely sold out of roast chicken. Doesn’t matter whether I head in store morning or night, seems like everybody wants to take advantage of the new price”.

For Mr Vinripple and his wife, roast chicken is a mealtime staple because it’s cheaper than red meat and requires little preparation.

“It’s really frustrating having to compete for my dinner now, and I’m also worried about how the poultry farmers might be missing out with these slashed prices”.

Though Woolworths is yet to drop it’s roast chicken costs, which currently remain at $10 each, this new price war could go the way of milk and bread.

Milk prices dropped to $1 per carton back in 2013, a price which hurt some Australian dairy farmers. Then in 2014, bread plummeted to just 85c a loaf which left local bakeries marginalised.

It remains to be seen whether chicken is the new price battleground for Coles and Woolworths, but will you get caught in the crossfire?

Do you think Australian shoppers are going to see a chicken price war between Coles and its competitors? Do you buy roast chooks? Have you found it hard to buy staples from your local deli?