The truth behind the shelves of Coles and Woolworths supermarkets and why there are fewer options than you think

A graphic designer has illustrated the surprising monopoly of international brands in Australia’s largest supermarkets in a series of images of items stocked on shelves.

The aisles of Australian supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths are packed with products from a wide variety of brands.

Consumers often assume shelves offer balanced choices from national and international brands, and many expect to support Australian businesses.

However, an analysis of supermarket shelves by a graphic designer, known as QuantumFluxations13 on Reddit, showed that several international corporations dominate products in key snack categories.

The graphic designer took images of the shelves in the cereal, sweets and crisps aisles of his local Woolworths store and overlaid the photos with product ownership.

In the cereal aisle, American brand Kellanova, better known as Kellogg’s, dominated with products including Coco Pops, Crunchy Nut, Froot Loops, Special K, All-bran, Nutri-Grain and Rice Bubbles.

Products made by Sanitarium, owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, also occupied a significant portion of the cereal shelves.

Sanitarium, founded in Melbourne and with factories in Australia and New Zealand, produces products such as Up&Go and a variety of Weet-Bix varieties.

Shoppers looking to satisfy their sweet tooth with chocolate are presented with products from two major global giants: Mondelez and Mars.

The candy aisle is dominated by these two brands, with either entity owning dozens of popular items.

Mars owns products including Snickers, Maltesers, Milky Way, Pods, Skittles, Mars, Twix and Celebrations, while Mondelez appeared with its Cadbury and Cadbury Dairy Milk brands and associated products.

Taking a smaller share on the chocolate shelf was Swiss brand Nestlé with items including KitKat, Milky Bar, Smarties, Crunch and Life Savers.

Meanwhile, the crisp aisle was dominated by two international brands, including family-owned German food company Pfeifer & Langen and American brand PepsiCo.

Pfeifer & Langen products included big names such as CC’s, Thins, Cheezels, French Fries, Samboy and Kettle.

While Pepsico products on shelves were consumer favorites, including Smith’s, Red Rock Deli, Cheetos, Burger Rings, Doritos and Twisties.

Between the two megacorporations was Kellanova with its Pringles range.

Jack Cadeaux, a professor at the University of New South Wales Business School, said the vast majority of products in supermarkets are owned by one of several conglomerates.

“The big supermarkets have a lot of what we call individual brands, of which the consumer is not really aware of the corporate ownership,” Professor Cadeaux explained. news.com.

“So this is an old strategy that has been used for many years: a way to eliminate the competition by buying it.”

Kraft Keinz controls brands such as Heinz, Kraft, Fountain, Golden Circle, Wattie’s, Gravox and Cottee’s.

Meanwhile, Goodman Fielder owns brands such as Buttercup, Wonder White, Mighty Soft, Gold’n Canola, Meadow Lea, White Wings and Paul Newman’s Own.

Nestlé has a monopoly on candy with iconic brands such as Allens and Minties and also owns major brands in various categories.

The megabrand owns Maggi, pet brands Purina and Supercoat and even baby formula brand Nan.

Important stakeholders can also be found in the non-food aisles of supermarkets, including Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Unilver.

Proctor & Gamble owns personal care brands such as Braun, Vicks, Olay, Old Spice, MetaMucil, Tampax, SK-II and Gillette, along with favorite hair brands such as Head and Shoulders, Pantene and Herbal Essences.

Unilver also dominates the shelves with ownership of Dove, Tresemme, Sunsilk, Impulse, Lynx and Rexona.

Meanwhile, in addition to its own brands, Johnson & Johnson also owns Aveeno, Neutrogena, Benadryl, Listerine, Carefree, Codral, Band Aid, Zyrtec, Clean & Clear, Nicorette, Mylanta and Stayfree.

Professor Cadeaux said consumers don’t have much choice despite being presented with dozens of “different” brands.

“Whether you look at biscuits or mayonnaise, a handful of large corporations more or less control things,” Professor Cadeaux said.