The ACCC report into the state of competition in the grocery industry has been released, with a number of recommendations mooted to improve competition. It should be noted, however, that the ACCC believe the issue of food inflation may have been overstated in some quarters. Australian Food News reports on the ACCC’s response to the major issues raised during the Inquiry. In General - Key Findings The ACCC suggest that the current nature of grocery retailing in Australia is “workably... ...Read more »
The Rudd Government today released its preliminary action plan in response to the Report of the ACCC inquiry into ‘the competitiveness of retail prices for standard groceries’. The Report reveals there is real reform to be had in Australia’s grocery sector, according to the Government. Despite the Report establishing that “grocery retailing is workably competitive” it also highlighted a number of factors that currently limit the level of competition including “the... ...Read more »
Insight Partners and Citi Investment Research have today released a comprehensive report outlining the impact of unit pricing on retailers, consumers and suppliers in Australia. EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax) are likely to be affected with a drop of about 5% anticipated for retailers and suppliers of packaged goods. The issue of unit pricing has been on the agenda for about a year and has been heavily promoted by consumer advocates CHOICE and Family First Senator Steve Fielding. It was initially... ...Read more »
Discussion about unit pricing has been a hot topic in the Australian press for months, but what is the debate really about? Australian Food News spoke with Dr Alan Kallir, who made a submission to the ACCC’s grocery price inquiry, and summarised other comments to simplify the issue. What is unit pricing? Unit pricing involves retailers providing a price per unit measurement on the price tag (e.g. $/kg) in addition to the sale price. Consequently, shelf price tags will need to have two... ...Read more »
It now appears that unit pricing will be prevalent in Australian supermarkets within 12 months in the wake of comments made by Chief Operating Officer of Coles, Mick McMahon, at yesterday’s hearing into grocery prices. Mr McMahon told the inquiry that Coles, which has previously been non-committal to the idea, now supported unit pricing. “Our view is that unit pricing will benefit customers and we would prefer to see this adopted universally by all supermarkets and food retailers across... ...Read more »
The unit pricing plan, which has been gathering momentum throughout the year, was finally introduced to the Senate yesterday by the Family First Party. The proposed changes, to the way grocery prices are shown, will require supermarkets to display a ‘price-per-unit measurement’ figure on their products. Similar unit pricing measures have been used in some areas in New Zealand, Europe and the US, with changes to legislation designed to help consumers cut their grocery costs. Consumer group... ...Read more »
A drastic change to the way grocery costs are displayed to consumers is still being considered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The change will require supermarkets to display a ‘price-per-unit measurement’ figure on their products and is designed to help consumers cut their grocery costs. CHOICE have been advocates of the idea for about a year and have written to Fair Trading Ministers in Australia’s states and territories in order to get the system up and going. They believe... ...Read more »