In 2017, with celebrity chef Curtis Stone at the fore, grocery giant Coles said it could feed a family of four a hearty meal for under $10.
This month, Woolworths did something similar with its Dinner Made Easy campaign – saying a family could purchase a pasta meal with garlic bread for half price at $10 – but only for a limited time and only if you don’t think dinner should include veggies.
Both supermarket giants have been subject to mocking TikToks and memes for what many see as trickery. A blanket could have been woven from doubting and cynical comment threads – and rightly so.
Teasing and tempting, the big supermarkets treat us like playthings, mesmerising us with their yoyo-ing prices, ticketing magic tricks and presenting us with specials that are really just regular prices with added sparkles.
It is a business practice that sits badly with us all, partly because it deals in essentials, not luxuries. We need food to live, as much as we need air to breathe.
But like it or lump it, we are stuck with it, being spoon fed whatever marketing brilliance is on trend right now. We pay what they tell us to.
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While many people are financially comfortable and don’t have to live from special to special, many more are struggling – and for them, the price playing takes on a Machiavellian air.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took Coles to court this month over what it says was deception: having a habit of lifting prices for a time, then lowering them again to give the appearance of offering a bargain.
Coles defended itself, saying supermarket price setting was complex and the volatile changes in process were because of high post-Covid inflation. The courts will decide what is reasonable behaviour.
There is no doubt food is more expensive these days. A report from an inquiry into price gouging released in 2024 found that, between March 2021 and September 2023, the price of cheese rose 27.3 per cent, bread by 24.1 per cent and milk by 22.7 per cent. This is not loose change. Hip pockets are hurting.
Consumers need to speak up when supermarkets rip us off. Our complaints are what led to Coles being forced to attend court and face the music.
Consumers do not have to accept what we are served up without complaint.
Dr Jane Stephens is a UniSC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer.
