An international discount chain has been named the country’s cheapest supermarket for Aussies on a health kick, as prices on essential items continue to climb.
Consumer group Choice analysed prices at 104 Coles, Woolworths, IGA and Aldi stores, finding the latter company was least expensive when it came to picking up a basket of baby spinach, broccoli, carrots, chicken breasts, Corn Thins, Greek yoghurt, hummus, tinned chickpeas and rolled oats.
“Excluding specials, Aldi provided the best value for our basket of healthy products, costing $28.79,” Choice chief executive Monique Perry said.
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“At Woolworths, the basket cost $33.52, while Coles came in at $34.25.
“IGA’s basket was the most expensive at $42.27.”
Surge in supermarket essentials
The findings were included in Choice’s quarterly supermarket survey, with the results released on Thursday.
More than eight in 10 Australians say groceries are a major pressure on household budgets and, amid the threat of a fourth RBA rate hike for 2026, prices across all four major supermarkets for a basket of essentials were found to be on the up.
“Our latest survey found prices for the base basket of eight items without specials rose the most at IGA by 11 per cent, with the basket costing $50.42, compared to $45.42 in our last survey,” Perry said.
The “base basket” of goods included Royal Gala apples, bananas, strawberries, potatoes, avocado, milk, basmati rice and beef mince.
“While Aldi’s basket was still the cheapest of the four (supermarkets) we surveyed, they did have the second biggest increase, with their base basket costing $40.10 – an upswing of 8 per cent or $2.96.
“Coles followed with an increase of 6 per cent or $2.44, and the Woolworths base basket increased by 2 per cent or $0.87.”
The survey involved sending undercover shoppers into dozens of Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and IGA stores in 27 locations across Australia in June.
The results come ahead of the Reserve Bank’s next meeting, where governor Michele Bullock is tipped to announce another cash rate hike.
Economist David Koch says the RBA must call out government spending and its impact on inflation.
He said Australians are already paying significantly more to service their mortgages off the back of hikes in February, March and May, and added that petrol prices were weighing heavily on household budgets and driving up prices at the supermarkets.
“Australian households are hurting, but I think it’s a little unfair because Australians were asked to tighten their belt about 12 months ago, and they have,” Koch, Compare The Market’s economic director, told 7NEWS.com.au in a statement.
“Household spending is way down. You’ve got consumer confidence plunging. You’ve got business investment and business sentiment falling as well.
“We’re doing the right thing. So, why is inflation still going up?
“Number one, the increase in global oil prices. We can’t do anything about that.
“And the other is record spending by Australian governments on all levels: Commonwealth, state, and local. In fact, state governments are spending the most, and it’s out of control.”
Government spending ‘undoing all our good work’
The former Sunrise host said the Reserve Bank must turn the spotlight on governments.
“Consumers, we are all fighting with the Reserve Bank, but government spending and government price rises are undoing all our good work. So why should we pay the penalty?” he said.
“My challenge to the Reserve Bank … is to show what extra interest rate increase could be attributable to government spending and government price rises, and also show that if governments were doing the right thing and joining consumers and the Reserve Bank in fighting inflation, what could interest rates actually be?”
