It has been 3 weeks ago that I needed Olive Oil, fair enough it is expensive, why I don’t know, it’s basically grown everywhere, but I think Aldi lost the plot now. I bought Remano Extra Virgin Olive Oil 750ml, as said approx. 3 weeks ago for about $10, it used to be $7.99, then $8.99 and today a whopping $12.99, same size, same oil. How is this justified??? Yes strange weather and all, but hey, that increase is in no way justifiable. And they call themselves cheap or should I say more affordable than major supermarkets? Yes maybe just a little, even if it is only $0.05 less, or $0.25 less or rarely $.1.00! Come on Aldi, don’t put yourselves down to the level these major supermarkets are currently at! Price gouging is alive at your stores as well, make no mistake!!! I went shopping today, to discover this, and let me tell you, I was not a happy chappy! No, I did not buy this oil! I am not willing to make them richer than they are!! Plus it does not stay in Oz anyway!
The supermarkets, especially Coles and Woolworths, have been accused of price gouging. But, as you have noted, substantial price rises have been experienced in other supermarkets including independents and multinationals like Aldi.
Many price rises are due to forces outside the supermarkets’ control. In relation to olive oil:
Global olive oil prices have more or less doubled in the past year.
Australia operates in a free trade environment where price fluctuations in global commodity prices flow through to prices on the supermarket shelves. This is another example of how global prices have impacted on food product price inflation.
Yes, you are right about Aldi. They are creeping towards the other supermarkets pricing little by little hoping that the customers keep coming if they technically remain cheaper with the 1, 5, or whatever the small cents difference may be now.
A lot of shoppers are staying with them out of habit, but customers know what’s afoot here; they’re not stupid.
The prices of Aldi Mobile phone plans are all on the increase as well as their grocery lines.
Yes, and the rest of us have noticed too. Aldi is closing the gap with their savings shrinking. I wonder if soon it’ll be the big 3, rather than the duopoly (or is it already?)
Quoting melinch6:-
“A lot of shoppers are staying with them out of habit, but customers know what’s afoot here; they’re not stupid”.
I wonder about this.
I’ve noted that when big multi-national companies take over smaller manufacturers, the quality of some of the products goes down, whilst the price goes up. Yet customers keep blindly buying the products as if nothing has changed.
An excellent example of this is Arnotts Biscuits. If one compares original biscuits such as Currant Luncheon or Iced Vo-Vo and others to the lame imitations Arnotts is palming off onto the public today, why do people keep buying them?
I recently watched Puberty Blues, an Aussie movie from the early 1980’s. There is a scene where a large jar of Iced VoVo biscuits is clearly visible for quite awhile. One can clearly see the jam and marshmallow liberally applied to these biscuits back then. But compare it to the thin layer of gunk painted onto the modern Iced Vovo, and why would anyone buy it, especially as there is an Aussie made biscuit called strawberry mallows which is half the price of Arnotts Iced Vovo’s and 4 times as good!!!
Has anybody else noticed that Golden Circle juices have become very watered down in recent times? In fact Woolworths home brand juices or Aldi juices taste much better at half the price of the Golden Circle product, but loyal customers keep buying the G/C product. Why?
I guess what I’m saying is brand loyalty / supermarket loyalty / service provider loyalty etc often seems to be blind to common sense and reason. And it seems that some TV commercial campaigns specifically target this blindness in order to keep their loyal customers from looking anywhere else, by regularly assuring them they are with “australia’s best network” or whatever the product may be.
BB
Yes you are right about Iced VoVos; they are awful nowadays. The taste is not there. Same with other biscuits also like Chocolate Royals, TimTams, even digestives so I wasn’t buying them as they were so bland. Tried Aldi’s offerings and the taste is there. Delicious and even more so when doing a side by side test with the originals. Price is okay too.
As for people sticking with the supermarkets out of habit or laziness, you may well be correct there too, but also consider the fact that outside the metropolitan areas there is much less choice in where to shop.
