Coles has fired another round in the supermarket wars, announcing it will cut prices on some goods by as much as 40 per cent to help struggling shoppers.
The supermarket giant announced its latest campaign on Monday, saying it would cut or lock prices on 150 grocery essentials until January 31, 2023.
Prices for some popular goods would fall by 10-40 per cent from Wednesday, it said.
Brands involved in the “Dropped and Locked” promotion include Steggles, Kleenex, Golden Circle, Kellogg’s, Bulla and Pepsi.
Chief executive of commercial and express Leah Weckert said the retail giant hoped the campaign would help customers get through the busy and expensive holiday season.
“We know it’s been a really tough year for many of our customers and they are looking for prices they can rely on each time they shop to help their household budget go further,” she said.
“As we get closer to Christmas, we want our customers to know that they can depend on Coles to bring them reliable value and great prices during the festive season.”
Some of Coles’ price drops
Coles and rival Woolworths have been locked in a price battle for much of 2022.
Coles’ announcement follows a similar move by Woolies, which froze prices on a range of household essentials – mostly from its home brands – back in June.
It followed that up with an announcement that prices on a range of items would remain frozen until the end of 2022. A further 400 items were added on August 22, with their prices to remain frozen until November 29.
A day later, Coles announced a “lock down” of 1168 of its grocery staples – including mince, free-range eggs, cheese, bread, tuna, nappies and pet food – until the end of 2022.
It also said it had begun lowering the price of 500 products, with the 150 in the “Dropped and Locked” campaign announced on Monday part of this move.
In April, it tried a more controversial approach to price-saving, launching its ‘supersized’ product range.
The promotion spanned 44 household favourites, including 1.32-kilogram Milo tins, and 1.1-kilogram bags of Pascall Marshmallows.
Coles said the promotion was part of efforts to lower grocery bills for budget-conscious families.
“Some of the products can last an average family a couple of months, which means customers save time shopping in store, while managing the family budget,” general manager for grocery Leanne White said.
The promotion, however, was almost universally panned by health advocates.
Melbourne dietitian Anca Vereen told TND that Coles was “absolutely” promoting unhealthy eating habits with its ‘supersize’ campaign.
“When you’re overloading your system with empty calories and excess fat and sugar, you’re more likely to cause gut problems, create inflammation in the body, and have a poor-functioning brain,” she said.
“The last thing that we should be doing is making some of these junk foods more affordable.”
