Supermarket Sleuths: Surprise feature you've never noticed at your local store
By Jo Abi|
M?ost supermarket shoppers stick to their local for their weekly grocery shop.
I like to mix it up. I live in an area of Sydney where there are a lot of shopping centres, and I also do a lot of grocery shopping at my partner's local, which is much further out.
Some have Coles, some have Woolies, some have Aldi and IGA, and once a month I trek out to Costco.
Shopping at the same supermarkets in different suburbs has ?made me realise something I think most shoppers miss.
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Despite the fact Coles, Woolies, Aldi and IGA and even Costco are major national and international brands, they do pay attention to what their local customers are after.
I was reminded of this recently when I walking into my nearest Woolworths store in Baulkham Hills and saw large sacks of onions and potatoes at the entrance.
They were priced really well and I briefly considered buying one of each before realising I'd never get through them myself, but I'd certainly consider buying them and dividing them up with my family.
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This week for Supermarket Sleuths, I compared the cost of these with loose onions and potatoes sold further inside the store and also downstairs at the green grocer.?
The bulk-buy potatoes worked out to be $1.70 per kilo, whereas the loose washed potatoes further inside the store were selling for ?$4.50 per kilo.
Onions were also being sold in bulk at the front of the store for $1.70, where the price further inside the store was $3.90 per kilo.
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These Woolies prices on onions and potatoes was even better than the greengrocer downstairs, where I've noticed the best specials are all outside and inside the store, prices are the same or higher than the major supermarket chains.
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?The bottom line is, it's worth visiting different supermarkets in your area to take advantage of these different specials.?
I remember when one of my local Coles stores began selling gardening mix. There was a large pile of bags of soil at the entrance.
Most customers don't realise that supermarkets sell different products from suburb-to-suburb and oftentimes they also have different specials.
Which is why it is well worth mixing it up when you do your grocery shopping each week, fortnightly or month, however often you do it.
I reached out to Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA to ask about local specials and select bulk purchases, such as the sacks of ?onions and potatoes at my local Woolies.
I was told by one of them they don't comment on these products as they vary from store-to-store depending on what the local community likes.
This made me feel warm and fuzzy. My local supermarket does care about what I want to buy, and despite the cost-of-living being so insane at the moment I feel like we have evolved from panic over grocery prices to acceptance.
Any special, even sacks of onions and potatoes I'd struggle to get through myself, feel like a win.
Prices and products vary based on region and availability.?
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