As most Australians worry about the rising cost of groceries, a leading consumer advocacy group has shared clever ways you can save at the supermarket.
According to CHOICE’s latest survey, 87 per cent of people are concerned about paying for food — a sharp increase from the 56 per cent of Australians who were worried about grocery costs in January 2021.
To help ease some of the financial burden many are currently facing, CHOICE has compiled a list of tips and tricks consumers can use when grocery shopping.
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CHOICE content producer Liam Kennedy said the first place to start is comparing unit prices.
Unit prices break down the cost of a product into units of measurement, such as per 100g, and allows consumers to compare “like for like”.
“A recent example … of the unit pricing difference is with honey for example,” Kennedy told 7NEWS.com.au.
“When you’re buying honey in the smallest sort of jars, you actually pay 40 per cent more per 100g than you would be if you’re buying the bigger containers.”
He also encouraged consumers not to disregard home brand products, with a recent CHOICE survey showing shoppers could save up to 40 per cent if they made the switch.
Blind taste tests done by CHOICE have also shown that in some cases, home brand products are rated more highly than name brand ones.
“They can be just as good as some of the premium labels,” Kennedy said.
“Our recent test for things like peanut butter, baked beans, ice creams, chocolates, some of the top performers were home brand products and (they’re) now outperforming flagship items and … often coming in at half the price.”
The consumer advocacy group also urged consumers to look out for products that can be refilled, such as cleaning products.
On average, CHOICE found purchasing refills can result in savings of 32 per cent.
Buying frozen out-of-season fruit or vegetables is another top tip, with fresh produce often becoming more expensive at different times of the year.
Kennedy said the most important thing for consumers is to not shop on “auto-pilot” and instead be more thoughtful about the products they’re purchasing.
“Autopilot is when we go into the shops and go straight to the products we always buy, the same brand, the same sizes … which is fair enough, we all want to get shopping over and done with,” he said.
“But what we encourage (shoppers) to do if they want to make savings when they’re buying groceries is to not do that and sort of really pay attention to what they’re buying, think about where they could be getting better value for money.”
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