The head of Australia’s consumer watchdog said she was concerned major supermarkets were charging consumers for fresh produce by item rather than by weight, confusing and shortchanging some shoppers.
Guardian Australia recently reported several examples of price discrepancies by supermarkets charging fruit and vegetables per item.
In one Woolworths store, small “lunchbox” bananas were sold in bunches of five, priced per bunch, next to larger ones priced by weight.
The smaller ones are twice as much on a kilo basis, although this isn’t obvious to most consumers unless they weigh the bunches and do the math in the shopping aisle.
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Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said grocers should display a consistent unit of measurement to allow shoppers to compare prices within and between supermarkets.
“It’s worrisome,” Kass-Gottlieb said in a briefing before Thursday’s speech outlining the regulator’s compliance and enforcement priorities.
“Reviewing and strengthening the Unit Pricing Code is the right way to address this.”
Kass-Gottlieb said one of the regulator’s top priorities is to ensure that price claims made by supermarkets and other retailers are transparent.
“They’re a big part of our economy. They’re a huge part of household budgets,” she said.
“It is important that price claims and product claims are clear and honest.”
Criticism comes as grocery and other household costs rise sharply again in a period of rampant inflation.
Separately, the ACCC is suing Coles and Woolworths over allegations they offered “misleading” discounts on a number of everyday products. Cass-Gottlieb could not comment on the proceedings, which are being heard in federal court in Melbourne.
In stores, Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have all expanded the use of product pricing per item and often do not display the weight price next to it. Aldi Australian stores do not have scales.
Supermarkets have different online methods, with Woolworths using fixed prices for some products regardless of weight, while Coles and Aldi adjust the final price by weight.
Supermarkets argue that per-item pricing can make it easier for customers to quickly set a budget and choose the number of items they need.
Under existing rules, major supermarkets can set prices per item or per kilogram of fruit and vegetables, whether packed or loose. Although the Albanian government has said it will strengthen aspects of the unit pricing code, it has not announced any reforms in practice.
The increase in per-item charging has led to huge price differences for larger cauliflowers, broccoli, capsicums, mangoes, avocados and other produce, leaving the smaller ones to the next wave of buyers.
Online shoppers using delivery services have no control over the quantity selected.
Consumer advocate Ian Jarratt, who set unit prices for the Queensland Consumer Association in Australia, said all products should be priced and displayed by weight.
“If they want to give an approximate commodity price, they can do that, but charge on a per kg basis,” Jarratt said.
“The fundamental problem with what supermarkets are doing is that there is not enough transparency.
“Why should you fine someone for carrying large cauliflowers?”
