Australian consumers are being ripped off at the supermarket, with hot cross bun prices rising by double digits in a year, even as volumes fall.
Consumer group CHOICE has revealed the scale of the ‘shrinkage’ crisis where products are sold at a much higher price – or the same – even though the packets contain less content.
It affects foods from hot cross buns and breakfast cereals to biscuits and cleaning products.
Value for money is eroding at supermarket checkouts, even though inflation is officially moderate.
With just 11 days until Easter Sunday, hot cross buns are getting a lot more expensive, with fewer results.
Australian consumers are being ripped off at the supermarket, with hot cross bun prices rising by double digits in a year, even as volumes are falling.
Community Co’s traditional and chocolate varieties have decreased by 30 grams since last year.
But the price increased by 12.5 percent to $4.50, from $4, even though the volume decreased by 6.3 percent to 450 grams in February 2024, from 480 grams in February 2023.
The rise in hot cross bun prices is more than triple the annual inflation rate of 3.4 per cent in January.
When it comes to breakfast cereals, big supermarkets are among the worst offenders, selling a cheaper version of Kellogg’s Nutri Grain.
Coles was selling 560 gram packets of Mighty Grain breakfast cereal in October 2022 for $4.50.
But in March 2024, the product was sold at the same price with 495 grams of cereal, an 11.6 percent reduction in volume without a price drop.
When it comes to breakfast cereals, big supermarkets are among the worst offenders, selling a cheaper version of Kellogg’s Nutri Grain.
A Coles spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the Mighty Grain supplier had incurred higher production costs.
“We can assure our customers that we have not taken advantage of the change in packaging of Coles Mighty Grain and Coles Corn Flakes cereals and that any reduction in cost price has been retained by our supplier who has experienced increases in production costs. production and raw materials,” she said.
“Our supplier has informed us that they are changing the package sizes of their branded and private label cereal products to simplify production and the supply chain.”
Rival Woolworths was selling a 560 gram pack of Max Charge for $4.50 in September 2023, but this month the size had dropped to 495 grams.
But a Woolworths spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia its private label products were 30 per cent cheaper than similarly branded products.
“Our suppliers have requested changes to package sizes,” she said.
“We can confirm that there has been no financial benefit to Woolworths from changing the size of these products, as the supplier’s cost to us has not decreased.
“On average, these two products are also more affordable than products from similar brands.”
In the year to January, bread and cereal prices rose 7.4 per cent, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The shrinkage crisis is also affecting biscuits, with McVitie’s Go Ahead ‘forest fruit’ range remaining at $4.40 despite shrinking 20.2% to 174 grams, from 218 grams, since June 2022.
The “shrinkage” crisis is affecting foods from hot cross buns and breakfast cereals to biscuits and cleaning products.
Cleaning products are also becoming more expensive, even though consumers are getting less of them.
In the case of Jif’s Power & Shine Bathroom Cleaner, the cost increased by 60% to $4, up from $2.50 in May 2022.
This is despite a reduction in bottle volume of 28.6 percent to 500 milliliters, compared to 700 milliliters.
The price per 100 ml has more than doubled.
Daily Mail Australia has also contacted Community Co, United Biscuits and Unilever Australia for comment.