

Why Aussie groceries cost so much - Specstacular
http://internationalbs.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/the-power-of-aussie-retail-giants/

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andyjdavis
Its kind of depressing which companies seem to grow into enormous enterprises
in Australia. Mining companies and supermarkets. Pillaging natural resources,
shafting farmers and consumers. Those seem to be our most successful business
models. Depressing indeed.

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bmunro
And banks. A lot of the biggest companies in Australia are banks.

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Scott_Culture
They are more like the retailers... huge local players, but pretty shy about
international expansion.

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bombs
It's worth noting that the cheapest priced groceries at Woolworths and Coles
tend to be their own brands, which cover a very wide range of products that
you'd find at a supermarket.

The Woolworths Select branded items, while being the cheapest, are often of a
higher quality than a lot of name brand competitors.

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taitems
I'm sorry but no. You'll constantly hear people banging on about how the in-
house brands are made by other reputable brands, and the likes of ACA and
Today Tonight will constantly reinforce this fallacy.

While it is true that reputable brands sometimes manufacture the in-house
brand's product, it is not (as ACA would have you believe) a case of Cadbury's
quality chocolate in cost saving packaging. "Reverse tendering" occurs, where
the head office "buyer" will set an objective cost and manufacturers will
compete in a reverse auction towards it.

Cadbury and Nestle (and anyone who can keep up) will not simply provide their
standard premium product, but look to cut as many costs as possible. What you
will get is a final product that will probably be made from different
ingredients, probably be manufactured with a different recipe and probably
manufactured using different machinery/methods.

What you are left with is a product that barely resembles its manufacturer's
name brand product, and as long as it passes unit testing/quality control,
Woolies or Coles don't really care. The almighty dollar.

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robryan
True, depends what the product is though, for some things like the basics,
milk and bread, I'm perfectly happy with the home brand version given the
price difference.

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sailormoon
Wouldn't be too sure about milk. Someone working for WW once told me that Home
Brand et al buy milk which is in effect several days, maybe even a week, older
than that which you get from Dairy Farmers &co.

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pmccool
I can't help suspecting that part of it is using their supermarket business to
fund their moves into things like alcohol and petrol.

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ax0n
Basically, Australia has a walmart. Or three.

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krakensden
except Walmart sells things really really cheaply

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billswift
Actually, at least at the local Walmart, grocery prices have gone up enough
over the last couple of years that there is little difference between Walmart
and Giant. Some things are cheaper at Walmart and some at Giant.

