Are Australian Supermarkets Secretly Overcharging You for Fruit and Veg?
It might feel like you're getting a good deal when you pick up a bunch of bananas, but what if those smaller, so-called 'kids' bananas' are costing you significantly more than their larger counterparts? This is the perplexing reality many Australian shoppers are facing, as supermarkets increasingly opt for per-unit pricing on fresh produce, a practice that's making it incredibly difficult to truly understand what you're paying for.
But here's where it gets controversial... Imagine walking into a Woolworths and spotting a bunch of 'kids' bananas' priced at $3.70. Right next to them, you see larger Cavendish bananas for $3.50 per kilogram. On the surface, they seem comparable. However, a keen shopper discovered that a 530g bunch of these 'kids' bananas' actually worked out to a staggering $6.98 per kilogram! That's a nearly 99% price hike for smaller pieces of the exact same fruit. This isn't an isolated incident; Guardian Australia has uncovered a pattern of confusing and seemingly arbitrary per-unit pricing across major supermarkets, a strategy that appears to be expanding.
Confusing Pricing Conceals Wild Variations
Under current regulations, supermarkets like Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi have the freedom to price fruits and vegetables either per unit or per kilogram, regardless of whether they're pre-packaged or sold loose. The crucial issue is that they are not always required to display the per-kilogram price, nor the average weight of items. This leaves shoppers in the dark, making it nearly impossible to determine if they're actually getting value for their money when paying a fixed price for each item.
And this is the part most people miss... The same shopper who investigated the banana prices conducted another test with cucumbers. Lebanese cucumbers were priced at $4.90/kg, while continental cucumbers were sold at $2.50 each. The continental variety, being larger, might seem like the more economical choice. However, upon weighing a single continental cucumber at 340g, the per-kilogram cost soared to $7.35. While not identical, this represented a 50% higher cost per kilogram compared to the Lebanese variety.
A Woolworths spokesperson defended their pricing strategy, stating it's "clearly communicated to allow our customers to make informed choices." But does this communication truly enable informed choices when the underlying cost per weight is so obscured?
The Random Nature of Unit Pricing on Display
Across the board, Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi are increasingly adopting per-unit pricing, often omitting the per-kilogram price altogether. Coles, for instance, is trialling an expansion of this practice. A recent visit to a Coles store in Melbourne revealed that over half of the fresh produce was priced per item, in what appeared to be a rather haphazard manner. Cauliflowers were $5 each, next to broccoli at $8/kg. Silver beet, kale, celery, spring onions, pak choy, leeks, wombok, kiwifruit, lemons, limes, sweet corn, pineapple, papaya, passion fruit, and various melons were all sold by the unit.
Many of these items, like Coles-brand lettuces, were packaged with prices ranging from $2.50 to $4.70, with no per-kilogram price or weight indicated. A Coles spokesperson suggested that per-unit pricing simplifies things for customers who often select items individually. Their aim, they stated, is to "balance transparency with simplicity." But does this simplification come at the cost of genuine transparency?
Aldi also employs similar tactics. Rock melons were priced at $4.99 each, while watermelons were $1.99/kg. Bags of five lemons cost $5.99 ($1.20 each), positioned next to loose lemons at $1.49 each. Crucially, Aldi stores lack scales, making it impossible for customers to weigh loose lemons and compare deals.
The Technology Exists, So Why the Hesitation?
Last month, it was reported that this shift to per-unit pricing was causing "wild volatility" in fresh produce prices, with some items becoming over 50% more expensive. While online platforms for Coles and Aldi sometimes display approximate per-unit prices alongside average weights and per-kilogram costs, with final prices adjusted based on actual weight, this isn't the case for all items. Woolworths, when selling fresh produce online, prices items individually with fixed costs, irrespective of individual weight.
Dario Bulfone, from a local greengrocer, points out that it's "not complicated at all" to implement systems that account for average weights and adjust final prices. He believes that choosing not to do so is a deliberate decision, not a technical limitation, and that this practice "systematically disadvantaged customers."
A Woolworths spokesperson mentioned they are "investigating additional system capability" for online customers who might prefer a pricing approach that mirrors in-store practices. This raises the question: why isn't this already the standard?
Consumer advocates are urging supermarkets to be mandated to consistently display and charge for fresh produce per kilogram, both in-store and online, with any per-unit prices being mere estimates. While the assistant competition minister, Andrew Leigh, has spoken about the government's commitment to strengthening pricing rules for clear, accessible information, specific reforms to per-unit pricing have not yet been announced.
What are your thoughts? Do you feel misled by per-unit pricing on fruits and vegetables? Do you agree that supermarkets should be required to display prices per kilogram as the default? Let us know in the comments below!
