Aussie food shopping prices vs UK food shopping

[ClaudiaSchiffer]

Ok, now I know this means that I am the most boring person EVAH, but after years of arguing with (aussie) dh about where has the cheapest shopping I finally got around to doing an on-line comparison . . .

The results of a basic weekly shop were . . .

Wait for it . . .

Coles $136.86

Sainsburys $102.14

So over TWENTY POUNDS cheaper to shop at evil Sainsbo's than marginally less evil Coles.

Quite significant don'tcha think?

Tort, I have no idea how it works on the eftpos, but you had a credit option...it's weird, because as far as I know, it all comes out of the same account. There is a delay with the credit option, I think.

They charge stores etc to process that option, so hence Ww don't offer it any more.

And the veges, mainly I buy from the greengrocer, but was running low so wanted to just grab some with the main shopping as I was not feeling great & had a screaming poorly toddler in tow.

But the Gg are not much cheaper & it isn't great quality anywhere at the moment.

According to a fb group, paying by cr on eftpos takes away the customer bank charge.

this explains a little.

Sorry Tort, you have the cr option on debit card transactions.

We've been here coming up for three years now and I think the cost of food has really risen. It's a bit mad though - meat is really good quality and good value, vegetables can be extortionate. I still remiind DH of the day he paid $12 for a bag of tomatoes before he got his head around the seasonality thing! The special offers are definitely less special too - I do miss BOGOFs.

I shop in Woolies (I hate Coles) but buy meat from the butcher, veg from the greengrocer etc. I make my own bread if I want anything other than sliced for sandwiches, bake cakes and biscuits for lunchboxes etc. and never buy anything pre-prepared as I think it tastes like expensive crap. I definitely have a different attitude towards food shopping here.

We came back from melbourne in Feb and were astonished that we did not remember how crap bread was over here in the Uk. It is rubbery and naff compared to Aussie bread. But, the cost of groceries is so much cheaper in the Uk.
saying that we will be trotting off back to Melbourne in March as there are a lot of other things that far outweigh the Uk

Claudia- thanks for the list. I'm very impressed with your healthy diet. Now need to find the energy to stay awake and shop...

Claudia, YES. And much better quality. Supermarket vegetables are horrible.

The greengrocer in the main strete of your town is a bit pricey compared to where i go, which is the big F&V barn in Hahndorf, probably only a little bit cheaper than the supermarket, but the quality is still much better than the supermarkets. Where I go, I'd say the total price of F&V is, hmm, two thirds of the price in the supermarket? And much tastier. All through summer/autumn I was buying punnets of strawberries for $1 each, corn cobs 3 for $1, etc. Do check it out, it'll be a revelation. My Mum drives up from town to shop there.

Really, I don't want to be evangelical about this, but blech, supermarket vegetables don't taste of anything and they're dearer.

Sunny, that's how we shop. We have a free-range butcher who grows his own meat, who charges more but it's more ethical to me and it's gorgeous meat and the service is brilliant; they'll joint a chicken for me, or stick my spare ribs in some marinade, or cut up a T-bone into stirfry strips, it's great. And local grocers, and I live in a semi-rural area with olive growers and cheesewrights and local wineries so I get all those things locally. Supermarket is just for cans and non-edibles.

Having moved to the UK from Oz in 1995, I can say with certainty that Australian food prices are now way more expensive comparatively than they were 15 years ago. When I left, it was MUCH cheaper to eat in Australia than it was in Britain. Last time I went back to Australia I was shocked that the price of supermarket food and of eating out was more expensive even than London -- and that was BEFORE the crash in the value of the pound.

And public transport prices in Oz were horrifying.

Australian food prices are definitely more than UK prices now.

I have lived in the UK for 40 years but still go back to Oz every couple of years although less so since my parents died. I was last there 2 years ago and I really noticed now much dearer food cost one of the problems is that there are as everyone has said only really a couple of supermarkets and they have no competition. Although now only DH and I at home I like to buy things like washing powder toilet rolls etc. in big sizes and all I could find over there was quite small packets. I couldn't believe the price of bread nearly twice what I pay for what I term good quality loaves. Friends who come over here are amazed about how large our supermarkets are and how clean and tidy and that the staff wear uniforms. Also that supermarkets in the UK sell alcohol whereas in NSW at least you have to go to what was called a Bottle shop if you wanted to purchase it.

mowbray, yeah...no alcohol in supermarkets in Oz. Bit of a pain sometimes, but there is usually one within walking distance, I find.

ho, the cost of food here - definitely way more. Don't get me started on cost of baby clothes either!

I appreciate the choices here - some of them - but the cost is a bit scary. In the UK we were eating probably about 70% organic food but we can't afford to do it here; there's much less of it around in the first place and what there is is mostly extortionately expensive.

We haven't got a local greengrocer so have to buy F&V from the supermarket - it's not as good, I know, but we haven't the choice locally. At least I can get organic apples though.

But we do get the meat from the butcher (except turkey and kangaroo - get them from Coles)

We only have a Coles at the mo but Woolworths is nearly finished and will open by the end of the year - twill be interesting to see how that affects things!

Good news though, for those of you who remember - my local Coles started to stock Boursin after I requested it!! Not sure how long they'll keep it going for - they had a double row of it and had to reduce the price for the last few; but they have re-ordered it at least so fingers crossed it hangs around. It's still at least twice as expensive as in the UK but then it's a foreign import so not so surprising.

The Woolworths in Tuggerah has a bottle shop right next to it, opening up from it, so almost the same shop now, whilst not being (to accommodate the law).

The non-bulk boxes of washing powder etc annoys me too - but I can bulkbuy toilet rolls. All our local Coles staff do wear uniforms though, and the place is generally clean - but I don't like the higher shelves here.

God, supermarkets here are eye-watering. I hate them. Nappies are 47c each!

Veg much cheaper and better quality at a greengrocer - try to find one of those big barn-type Italian ones generally beside a main road in a fairly unattractive part of town (ie not a neighbourhood people will be making gooseberry coulis - greengrocers there will be vvv expensive).

The one I go to has a section for bruised and on-its-way-out veg. I almost never spend more than $15, which is for about four carrier bags of mixed vegetables. You can't really meal-plan because it's a lucky dip, but I go in thinking if they've got cauli, cabbage and potatoes we'll have soup, if they've got aubergines and asparagus we'll have Thai green curry.

interesting, ninedragons - I have not seen one of these of which you speak! I must look harder.
I have however found an Italianate warehouse place that sells all sorts of stuff, much of it imported from Holland and North Europe, some of it from Greece and Italy, and I shop there quite regularly. But they don't do fresh fruit and veg.

oh shit, I completely forgot about your Boursin But pleased to see you have the situation under control!

I really dislike what supermarkets have done to fresh produce - tasteless tomatoes and straight, pale yellow bananas come from supermarket policies about produce that looks good on the shelves.

No probs, ninedragons - when I met up with abithormonal and bunnygirl80, bunny brought me a couple of packets which tided me over until I found them up here

Our local Coles has "market F&V" every week on special, I think the idea is that they have come from somewhere local (not sure) and they usually taste better.

ahhh see claudia dh says that is not worthwhile comparison. To look at it realistically - don't just convert - work out what percentage of your usual weekly wage the groceries would be in the UK compared with in Aus. That is how we worked out what was better here or not.

Big hint - Loo Roll in Big W ( I originally typed bogW) in packs of 30 - far more economical. I also buy my washing powder there as well. Get a huge box of Bio Zet and stretch it further with napisan in the wash. Haven't really checked other things. I also try and buy more at the deli and butcher than prepacked meats - can buy exactly what you need or don't.

I actually go past two woolworths to shop at coles as it works out cheaper for me.

Find meat and veges much cheaper at aldi if you have one.

I can still use my credit card at woolies for shopping and it comes out of my credit account.

I also by a lot of coles brand for my staples like flour, sugar, things like that - so much cheaper. I am always getting stuff that is on sale that week. Another hint is to look at the bottom of shelves for cheaper alternatives - the most expensive stuff is at eye level - cause most ppl will not stoop down to check prices - so stoop down and check the other alternatives on lower shelves.

good point there eidsvold - DH was saying that he is earning much more here in comparison to the UK - but I did have to point out to him that the jobs were hardly comparable, so he can't really say that in all fairness because we don't actually know how much a similar job in the UK would pay.

I have noticed that the minimum wage here is much higher than in the UK though...

The cost of food in the UK will probably increase when the govt starts to tax food though.

eidsvold, credit cards are fine for the credit function. It is debit cards that no longer offer the credit option.

I don't know how the credit option worked on debit cards, but apparently it saved being charged for a transaction by your bank. But they charge the actual store.

I feel like Oz has got more expensive for food in the last 3 years that we've been here. I basically spend $120 a week for 2 of us - that covers lunch and dinners though as we take our lunches in to work.

And greengrocers are cheaper - I paid 99c for a cucumber on Sat and they were charging $1.99 in Coles. BUT this means being organised if you work full time as the butcher and greengrocer are shut by the time i get home from work.

In some ways I think the food is better quality - fruit and veg seems huge and tasty to me, but other things are poorer, like bread and I don't think there is as much choice as in Waitrose for example.

Central markets are good though and I shop in Blackwood which isn't a particularly cosmopolitan area at all, and yet they have a great butcher, deli (oh god full of the most amazing looking cheese) and greengrocer - I can't wait to be on maternity leave so I'll be able to shop there more often.