On Grocery Shopping

I am a frustrated shopper. I live within walking distance of 9 supermarkets. * But to do my weekly shopping I will have to visit at least 2 if not all 9 to fill my grocery list. If I can't do my shopping in one store - where is the convenience? Where are the savings?

I can hear your first question, if you can't find brand X you can always purchase brand Y or Z.

But there is the rub - I've purchased the substitute before and found the substitute wanting. Not in all cases, sometimes I've found that the other brand is preferable. I don't 'collect' brands. And anyway, why should I? I purchase for taste, quality and price. I am willing at times to pay more if I think a product is better than its competitors. Now sometimes, I find the supermarkets’ ‘own’ brand product superior to the ‘name’ (single company) brand equivalent. In other words sometimes, ‘Black & Gold’ brand products are better than, say, ‘International Roast’ brand coffee. Not that I drink instant coffee but, you understand?

However, the big supermarket chains are stocking less and less of their competitors wares because they want you to purchase their product - the 'own' brands. In Woolworths the ‘own’ brands are ‘Select’ & ‘Home’ brand. In Coles and BiLo they are ‘Farmland’, ‘Coles’ & ‘Savings’ brands. The big chains are letting their ‘own’ brands eat progressively more of the shelf space. This means that instead of letting the public make up their own mind, they are trying to force the decision.

The 'own brand' has many advantages over the competing products. The main advantage being that they are cheaper.

This financial advantage is achieved in a number of ways.

The supermarkets cut costs on packaging by adopting simple, plain two or three coloured packages - the only difference being the contents and their description.

The supermarkets also save money on advertising because their 'own' brand products are easily associated with their store - and they tell you that being loyal and shopping with them and purchasing their products will ensure that you save money.

The independent manufacturers have to pay for advertising for each product. Each product requires special packaging - the more eye-catching the better and this adds to their costs. As well, the supermarkets charge slotting fees - the more you pay the more shelf space you get and the better placed your product will be. The 'own' brands don't have this charge added to their price.

Now, general stores have been around for a long time. The store traded in household commodities or groceries. You went in, waited your turn and asked the sales assistant to fill your order for you. But back in 1916, Mr Clarence Saunders of Memphis Tennessee realised he could increase profits by making the customer do all their own order filling, and the first self-service store was born. It was called the Piggly Wiggly. Soon Mr Saunders had a chain of stores and people were copying his idea. As the stores got bigger, they started to be called supermarkets.

And the supermarkets want to monopolise your business.

Here is an example of how I am frustrated by the supermarkets’ sales tactics.

I prefer to buy a specific brand and flavour of tea - Madura Earl Grey. I like this tea because I think it tastes the best and it has a lower caffeine content than most. Also Madura is an Australian company. All 9 of the local supermarkets stock Madura tea. But most of them do not stock Madura Earl Grey which happens to be my favourite. I found I could get Twinings, Tasty and ‘own’ brand Earl Grey, but not the tea I wanted.

Eventually, at store no 7, I found a couple of packets of Madura Earl Grey tea bags. They were the small, 20 bag packets and there were only 5 left on the shelf. I purchased 3 of them. And because I had to purchase the smaller packets, I had to pay the premium price.

My tea bag walk took me from Darlinghurst to the city, down to Chinatown and unbelievably enough, ended in Glebe. That is a long walk for tea. My walk made me so grumpy that as soon as I got near a computer, I contacted Madura via their web-site (www.maduratea.com.au) to ask them what the hell was going on. Had they stopped producing Earl Grey? Or was there a problem with their production facility? A representative from Madura called me within 10 minutes. And the man at the other end wasn't happy.

He told me that ALL Woolworths stores should have stocks and that Coles had just downgraded their product to only stocking it if there were 6 bays or more of shelf space. He also asked me to fill in the "how can we help you further" questionnaires at the checkouts to complain and ask these companies to stock the products I want. He is also sending me a packet of tea.

Since my email on Friday I have found some Madura Earl Grey tea - in a supermarket one hours drive away from my home. I was en route to my father's house - I shop for him once a fortnight and break my journey half way to do the grocery shopping. While I was there I found the tea.

But I couldn't purchase a pastry flan. If they have any they are 'own' brand and usually broken - they put them on the highest shelf and I think they throw them up there. I had to go to two more shopping centres and three supermarkets before I could find two unbroken Pastry Flans and I was lucky enough to find the brand I wanted. And yes, this happens about once every 6 weeks.

So if you are a frustrated shopper like me, start complaining. Take the advice of the Madura Tea spokesman and fill in the forms with your suggestions how the supermarkets can improve your shopping experience. Stop simply accepting whatever the big chains want to foist on you and accepting their so called 'savings'. Start demanding the products you want to buy.

The tea from Madura arrived today. 4 packets! Time for a cuppa.




(* 2 Coles Express, 2 Woolworths, 2 Coles, 2 IGA and 1 BiLo)