For many Australians, the pressure on living costs is growing and supermarkets are warning that you need to come up with more pain because of your weekly food bill.
Factors influencing food prices include labor shortages, raw material costs and rising fuel and service costs.
Speaking at the Australian Global Food Forum this week, Coles CEO Steven Cain said Australia has a labor crisis in many sectors.
“It’s exacerbated by what’s happening with Covid and the flu, our absence today is twice as normal with Covid and the flu, and the exodus rate in most industries is increasing,” he said.
“Last week, I spoke to one of our store managers and asked him what the biggest challenge was.
“He said he was definitely trying to find the right people with the right skills, but he lost one in the workshop who would be a dishwasher for $ 80,000 a year.”
Mr Cain said food suppliers were also calling for further price increases. “We have five times more requests for price increases than last year. Five times, “he said.
A Coles spokesman told NCA NewsWire on Thursday that the supermarket was focused on keeping costs low for families.
“We appreciate that there are a number of factors that affect inflation at all retailers, including rising raw material costs, rising energy prices and transportation costs, but there are a number of ways we add value to customers,” they said. .
Includes weekly specials and other offers such as Flybuys.
“To date, we have reduced prices on more than 2,000 items in our product range to more than 20,000 products,” said the spokesman.
“Customers who purchase My Weekly Specials can save an average of $ 65 per cart each week.”
Paul Turner, general manager of Woolworths Fruits and Vegetables, said heavy rain and low sunlight in Queensland have led to a reduction in the supply and quality of zucchini, beans and broccoli.
The same goes for truss, gourmet, cherry and solanato tomatoes, he added.
“We are still witnessing problems with the supply of lettuce and berries, so while new crops have been planted, it will take several weeks for stocks to return to more stable levels,” he said.
“Right now, apples and citrus are at their peak, and pears and white washed potatoes are plentiful for our customers and of great value.”
Mr Turner said the Hass avocado season is underway and the Woolworths have cut prices at more than 300 winter essentials.
Woolworths has a specialty of about 5,000 different products each week.
In May, the Woolworths reduced the price of more than 300 winter products until August, including roast pork, soups and cold and flu medications.
Woolworths also recently introduced more than 650 products of its own brand into its low-priced program, including flour, sugar and snacks.
The results for the third quarter in May showed that vegetable prices in the Woolworths were in inflation, while fruit remained in slight deflation in the first three months of the year, driven by apple and avocado prices.
Woolworths reported overall average price inflation of 2.7 percent.
Over the same period, Coles reported inflation of 3.3 percent.
In an ALDI Australia price report for 2022, published last month, the company said that the basket in ALDI was at least 15.6 percent cheaper than other supermarkets, which means that the average family can save $ 1,555 a year.
“Our survey shows that the majority (88 percent) of Australian shoppers are considering changing their spending next year, starting with finding the best deals,” said Oliver Bongardt, CEO of ALDI Australia.
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