Groceries have become more expensive at all four of Australia’s major supermarket chains, with the average price of a basket of essentials increasing by ۷% between March and June, new analysis has found.
The consumer advocacy group Choice on Thursday released its ۱۰th quarterly government-funded survey of supermarket prices, which it assessed by filling a basket with eight common grocery items at ۱۰۴ different stores in June.
The basket – containing milk, royal gala apples, strawberries, bananas, potatoes, avocado, basmati rice and beef mince – increased in price by ۷% across Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, and IGA since Choice’s last survey in March.
The total cost of the eight items – averaged across all the stores – went up by $۲.۷۹ between March and June, from $۴۰.۸۳ to $۴۳.۶۲.
Choice released its latest grocery price survey as the Reserve Bank was widely expected to deliver the fourth interest rate hike of ۲۰۲۶ at its board meeting next week in another attempt to tame inflation.
While the consumer price index – Australia’s official inflation metric – increased by ۰.۶% in the March-to-June quarter, according to government data cited by Choice, the food categories all rose by more than the overall rate.
Choice found about half of the overall increase came from strawberries, which became ۳۷% more expensive on average over the three-month period – going from $۴.۶۸ to $۶.۴۱.
There were also higher prices on average for mince, milk and avocados, while apples and basmati rice were cheaper, Choice said.
Overall, the cost of the grocery basket increased the most at IGA, with prices up by ۱۱% on average from $۴۵.۴۲ in March to $۵۰.۴۲ in June.
Aldi had the second-biggest increase at ۸% – with the total average cost of the items rising from $۳۷.۱۴ in March to $۴۰.۱۰ in June.
However, Aldi’s basket remained the cheapest overall compared with IGA and the two major supermarkets.
At Coles the average total price of the eight items was $۴۲.۵۴ in June, up by ۶% or $۲.۴۴ since March, when the same basket was $$۴۰.۱۰.
Woolworths recorded the smallest increase in price in the three-month period. At Australia’s largest supermarket chain, the basket went up by ۲% or ۰.۸۷ cents – from $۴۰.۰۸ to $۴۰.۹۵.
In addition to the base basket of items, Choice also surveyed what it called a “spotlight basket” of ۱۰ items shoppers might buy on a health kick.
In this basket were baby spinach, broccoli, carrots, chicken breast, corn thins, Greek-style yoghurt, hummus, tinned chickpeas and rolled oats.
Choice found that Aldi again provided the best value, with the basket of healthy products costing $۲۸.۷۹.
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At Woolworths, the basket cost $۳۳.۵۲, while the Coles basket came in at $۳۴.۲۵. IGA’s basket was the most expensive at $۴۲.۲۷.
In order to work out the average cost for both baskets, Choice mystery shoppers priced groceries at ۲۷ Woolworths, ۲۷ Coles, ۲۳ Aldi and ۲۷ IGA stores.
An Aldi spokesperson said Choice had “once again confirmed that [it] remains Australia’s best value supermarket”.
“We’re committed to making quality groceries more affordable and helping Australians stretch their budgets further,” they said. In short, we will not be beaten on the cost of the weekly shop.”
A Coles spokesperson said the “vast majority” of its products either remained at the same price or became cheaper between March and June.
“We’ll continue working hard to provide customers with great value, quality and convenience every time they shop with us,” they said.
An IGA spokesperson said it was hard to comment on Choice’s findings in detail without the “full” methodology, but its stores were “more competitive than ever, with many stores matching or beating the major chains on key grocery lines”.
Woolworths was contacted for comment.
The Albanese government has funded Choice to carry out the quarterly surveys of grocery prices since ۲۰۲۴ as one of its cost-of-living measures, with two more reports due under the agreement.
The final two surveys will be the first conducted after the implementation of new laws against “price gouging”, which came into effect on ۱ July.
