A recent survey suggests that more Australians believe they have less choice at the supermarket, even in those stores which make a point of stocking multiple brands. Are you finding it harder to locate the products you prefer?
Picture: Hamish Blair/Getty Images
The question of whether house brands will ultimately reduce our choice is one we’ve discussed repeatedly here at Lifehacker. Australian Food News reports on Roy Morgan Research which suggests that 56 per cent of shoppers in Woolworths say the supermarket “stocks the brands they want”. At its peak, that number was 63 per cent. For Coles, the figure is 52 per cent, while at ALDI it’s 29 per cent (unsurprising given ALDI’s overwhelming preference for its own-branded goods). At IGA, the figure is 48 per cent.
It’s worth pointing out that while those numbers are high, they still mean more than half of us aren’t worried. But clearly some of us are. Which products do you find harder to locate? Are you routinely shopping in more than one supermarket? Tell us in the comments.
Australian supermarket consumers miss branded food products [Australian Food News]
Comments
7 responses to “Are Your Favourite Brands Harder To Find At The Supermarket?”
I think one of the reasons we can’t find the name brands is because the home brands tend to blatantly rip off the the packaging of those brands. Of course Colesworth will deny this flat out but it’s been clearly pointed out time and time again in side by side pictures. The Checkout, Gizmodo and Lifehacker being the most recent comparisons I’ve seen.
Definitely been noticing an increase in home brand products at our local Woolies. Also, they no longer stock Duracell batteries, so now I have to buy Energiser or make a trip elsewhere. Fewer brands = easier management = lower costs = more profit. Gotta service the shareholders!
The only reason this “Gotta service the shareholders!” attitude exists, is because review structures and processes behind a CEO or executives performance isn’t based on anything other than how much money they made or saved and the fact that their contract usually involves being renumerated through said shares. So it becomes self serving for these higher ups.
What annoys me so much about these big companies is that the concept of ‘enough’ is so thoroughly foreign to them. They never look at the $5bn profit they made and say, “yeah, this is probably enough” and do something for the benefit of their employees or customers without expecting it to make them more money in return. Fanciful, I know, but wow that would be nice.
I’ve mentioned this before on LH and it’s become more prevalent since. There are now some brands that have more “Home Brand” varieties than the original. Potato Chips and biscuits is a big one. Sooner or later we won’t have any real choice but the Home Brands and when that happens the quality will drop even further and there won’t be a damn thing we can do about it! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… the ACCC needs some teeth..!!
Absolutely. I have to go to 2 different supermarkets if I want to get the brands/products I like. I refuse to buy home brand products out of principle, I simply cannot support their vertical integration to this level. It was fine when there was really cheap home brand stuff on the bottom of the shelf, but now days it’s the opposite, you have to look at the bottom of the shelf for the name brand stuff.
Definitely- used to be able to get all my preferred brands at Woolies, but now no Skippy cornflakes , no Lea & Perrin Worcestershire sauce, and even brands they stock are often missing for days at a time…
The sad reality for me is that I’m fairly brandist (that’s a word right?). I usually try a few brands from different super markets and find the one i like best. At that point I won’t settle for anything but that particular brand. And TBH some things I actually prefer in home brands.