Price hike set to hit Coles and Woolies: How you'll be affected
Supermarket shoppers at Coles and Woolworths are likely to feel the pinch when it comes to their groceries as both supermarkets have announced their store prices have risen over the past quarter.
Unfortunately, Coles shoppers were hit the worst and faced a 1.4 per cent rise over the September quarter, which is a hike that it says can’t be avoided due to the impacts of the drought.
“The long-term effects of the drought is having an impact which has contributed to price inflation for the quarter,” the supermarket said.
Woolworths shoppers faced an increase of 0.3 per cent, with meat, deli and baked goods “directly impacted” by the drought.
Retail expert Professor Gary Mortimer at Queensland University of Technology explained to Yahoo News Australia that the hike is inevitable.
“Australian consumers living on the eastern sea board don’t realise how drought effects them,” he said.
“We forget all of our grain, bread, meat, beef, fresh produce and even eggs [come from Australian farmers]
“While there’s always products coming through, with an extensive period of drought this is where we’re seeing a decline in crops and fresh produce and in quality.
Therefore we’re now starting to see these price increases seep through the markets.”
Professor Mortimer said that shoppers might be forced to change their approach to the weekly shop, including forgoing meat or switching from fresh vegetables to frozen.
“You can change the types of products you buy [to tackle inflation]. There’s already an increased proportion people turning to vegetarian and veganism due to economic issues,” he said.
“Wear the cost increase or change your behaviour.”