Groceries in Australia

centash

Well-known Member
Bruce asked for some prices....these are from a small IGA where we are staying in Sydney. The goods are likely a bit cheaper in larger stores.

The Australia Dollar is about 90 cents Canadian

Ben
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Considering they don?t have supply management and the farmers are going broke that looks awful close to Canadian store prices?
 
IGA ! IGA used to be "Independent Grocers of America". I don't think it exists anymore. Did it move down under and become "Independent Grocers of Australia"?
 
I've read on a couple goat sites I'm on with Aussie members that Australia is very restrictive in what chemicals,hormones and things like antibiotics are used on farms and in food production.
 
IGA Independent Grocers Alliance is a American owned franchise operation. They operate in over 30 countries. IGA ownes the warehouse and distribution network but does not own the stores. It allows mom and pop stores to buy in bulk like the big boys.

I do most of my shopping at a mom and pop IGA store and they have a distribution warehouse about 50 miles from me.
 
I remember IGA stores around here. Haven't been near one in a long time, but don't know if the ones I saw are still functioning as such. There is another grocery supplier that is still here for mom and pop shops....I think Food Club is their brand, forget the name of the chain.

On prices, give or take 10% variance in the monetary conversion ratio, prices are in line with local chains....of all types.
 
Easy to speculate in that regard and I have done it too but a stalk of corn standing in a field and a bag of Fritos sitting on your grocers shelf are miles apart in what it takes to put each in it's place. Store to store competition keeps prices in line around here and if you are intent on saving all you can, shopping sale items only, saves you more if you buy in volume at the time of purchase....discounting your expenses incurred while running all over town to get the best deal on what you need.
 
If that?s the case I just don?t get it. In Canada with supply management unless it?s through an innovation grant there?s $0 from government to producers pockets. On top of that most producers hold litterly on average around $2.5 million in quota based on the Canadian 80 cow average requiring 100+!kgs quota at a minimum of $24 000/kg just to be allowed to ship that milk. We definitely get a fair bit more than other parts of the world but almost all of us has a huge amount of quota debt and many are not making any money because of costs&debt. There?s a movement around the globe saying that our system is taking advantage of consumers and farmers are getting rich. If the US government is litterly pumping billions/yr to help keep farms afloat because of low milk prices ,where?s the savings to consumers in that situation if your store prices are the same as ours. The processor and retailer is certainly benefiting at the expense of the producer and consumer.
 
I could take my camera to the grocery store and show you the prices. On costs, just follow the flow from field to processor to packager to distributor.....labor including benefits package, equipment and buildings investment, distribution costs......Yes the milk was kind of pricy but here you can pay what you want for milk as it is primarily priced by the butter fat content or special processing requirements. Once it leaves the farm, I doubt government subsidies apply so that has nothing to do with the consumer cost as a result of non-farm add-ons.....obviously my opinion based on observations and exposure.
 
Brookshire Bros sells Food Club. I haven't seen IGA in Texas in years. They used to cover Texas. Those prices are not much different than what we pay around here.
 
I can check the rest but a gallon of whole milk in South Jersey is $3.98. Bought a gallon last night.
 
On Wednesday I saw a Safeway tractor trailer unit backed up to the loading dock at the local IGA store.
 
The milk price is from $2.50 to $2.99 per LITER. That's $9.45 to $11.30 per Gallon in US Dollars. I bought milk yesterday (2%) for $2.49 per gallon (US).
 
That?s what I mean,you guys pay twice for dairy. Once through your taxes and again at the store. It appears the combined total is actually higher than what Canadians pay and the US producer actually gets a fair bit less. That?s why we?ve been fighting so hard all these years for supply management.
 
In Canada, the IGA brand (still around with some stores but not a lot) evolved into Sobeys which are everywhere, as are Safeway. For some time now, Safeway and Sobeys are one and the same (however that all works). Not sure how IGA fits into that picture up here anymore.
 
(quoted from post at 09:47:11 03/13/19) Brookshire Bros sells Food Club. I haven't seen IGA in Texas in years. They used to cover Texas. Those prices are not much different than what we pay around here.

That price is per Liter... makes milk over $7 a gallon
 
Several years ago we did a show at the old Thressures Reunion in SW Iowa. Several Australia gals were there. They had never heard of whipped topping such as cool whip. Wondering how many products we have that they don't have and vise Versa.
 
(quoted from post at 08:12:21 03/13/19) That?s what I mean,you guys pay twice for dairy. Once through your taxes and again at the store. It appears the combined total is actually higher than what Canadians pay and the US producer actually gets a fair bit less. That?s why we?ve been fighting so hard all these years for supply management.

I can't see it that way. Our retail prices are much cheaper, and the total of subsidies is not that much compared to the total of retail sales. We subsidize the farmer but not the freight, processor, warehouser, distributor, wholesaler or retailer.

Like someone said above the price for an ear of corn in the field pales compared to the price of a bag of chips. You can double the price of corn and the consumer hardly sees it.

Same with wheat and bread. If the government bought all the crops and gave them to the processors store prices would not go down much. So I don't think it is in the econsumer's best interest to limit production and get prices double on the farm and triple in the stores like we're seeing on this post.
 
I?m all for it maybe if prices were triple what they are for commodities a guy with less 10,000 acres could actually make a go of it .
 
We have an IGA grocery store here in Coolidge Arizona. Prices on meat(pork,beef,chicken)are affordable...more importantly, the meat is always fresh,and tastes great

Bob...
 
At a larger store today, milk there was $1.10 per litre. The 10 cents was added by that chain store to go directly to farmers to help them out. There were several testimonials from farmers published there, thanking for the support given. Don't know if it was all on the up and up.....
Ben
 
Say $A2.50 per litre

About 4 litres to your gallon so $A10 per your gallon

I haven't checked lately but the conversion has been running around $A1.00 = about $US0.75

So about $US 7.50 per US gallon

According to me
 
Low commodity prices are what kills the small operators,the big operators have the people hired to seek out and apply for every Gov't handout there is,that is one reason I'm dead set
against subsidies and gov't handout to farmers.The 'help' the small guys get is actually what is putting them out of business.
 
(quoted from post at 17:48:17 03/13/19) Several years ago we did a show at the old Thressures Reunion in SW Iowa. Several Australia gals were there. They had never heard of whipped topping such as cool whip. Wondering how many products we have that they don't have and vise Versa.

Vegemite
 
(quoted from post at 21:37:07 03/13/19) We have an IGA grocery store here in Coolidge Arizona. Prices on meat(pork,beef,chicken)are affordable...more importantly, the meat is always fresh,and tastes great

You know why that is, don't you?

They shaft the farmers, and pass the savings along to you!

Cheap food prices should OUTRAGE any self-respecting farmer.
 
(quoted from post at 22:05:20 03/13/19)
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto16422.png">

Sadly, that chart has too many conditions,

Money spent on food consumed at home. We don't eat at home nearly as much as we used to. So if you eat at the coffee shop and a fast food restaurant, your total grocery bill is artificially low. I don't think other countries eat out so much, but I may be wrong.

It is also "selected" countries". How many countries were eliminated that have a lower cost than the U.S.?
 
(quoted from post at 05:30:32 03/13/19) Hmmmm, the price the consumer is asked to pay, seems out of step with the price that the Australian farmer is given for his farm products. Charge whatever the market will bare

If anything justifies a criminal investigation . It is the prophiteering markup between the farmer’s gate and the store shelf .
 
Grocery stores have about the lowest profit margins of any businesses,super competitive too.Probably about 20 big grocery stores with 15 miles of my farm plus a lot of small specialty stores.It just costs a lot of money to operate these days,regulations,taxes,transportation,labor, etc etc
all cost money.High minimum wages hit places like stores pretty hard too.Raw materials which is what farmers produce is a fraction of the cost of most things these days.
 
(quoted from post at 07:48:44 03/14/19)
(quoted from post at 22:05:20 03/13/19)
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto16422.png">

Sadly, that chart has too many conditions,

Money spent on food consumed at home. We don't eat at home nearly as much as we used to. So if you eat at the coffee shop and a fast food restaurant, your total grocery bill is artificially low. I don't think other countries eat out so much, but I may be wrong.

It is also "selected" countries". How many countries were eliminated that have a lower cost than the U.S.?

I believe that chart reflects the cost per percentage of income, not actual cost. And yes, if you look at what the average American makes? We have some of the cheapest food in the world.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 05:08:56 03/14/19) Say $A2.50 per litre

About 4 litres to your gallon so $A10 per your gallon

I haven't checked lately but the conversion has been running around $A1.00 = about $US0.75

So about $US 7.50 per US gallon

According to me

3.78 actually. Dollar is worth 75 cents today.
 
I dunno.....an ag student we had from NZ years ago brought some vegemite for us to
try.....does make a good tire and tube repair adhesive...lol!
Ben
 

Sobys grocery store sells Vegamite or the other similar product . Usually on the same shelf as bread yeast . Marmite is weird stuff too. As for Cenovis ???
http://www.justhungry.com/2006/11/marmite_vegemite_andcenovis_a.html
 

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