Aldi claims man’s Woolworths shop would cost $25 less at its stores

Aldi have shared how much Aussies can save on an average grocery shop after a Sydney man’s tiny $85 shop went viral.

The man shared a photo of his near-empty trolley after noticing a jump in his usual ‘middle of the road’ groceries at Woolworths.

‘This was $84.90 without the milk (that wouldn’t scan),’ he wrote on Reddit.

The man’s shop was made up of grocery essentials including tomatoes, mouthwash, butter, and soap. 

‘I’ve got to be honest, apart from some eggs which are more ethical and butter that’s about a dollar more than standard, what in this cart is luxury?’ he said.

‘The tomato pesto? It was half price and only 25c more than Woolworths brand of a similar product.

‘Nivea soap was all that was left in the cleared out isle apart from goats’ milk soap which I’m not really in the market for. 

‘The mozzarella is the cheapest fresh option and the pasta is middle of the road in terms of cost.

An Aldi spokesperson said: ‘we will never give up on offering Australian shoppers the best possible prices’ amid growing concerns over the cost of living crisis

‘I know there are cheaper options. I haven’t changed what I’m buying and it’s far more expensive than it used to be and that’s the point of this.’

However an Aldi spokesperson claimed the man could have saved almost $25 if he’d shopped with the budget grocery giant.

Aldi’s total does not include the hair dye the man purchased at Woolworths. 

‘We thought this receipt looked high, so we crunched the numbers on this shopper’s basket and found that if they’d walked into an Aldi store they would have checked out at $47.75 (excluding the hair dye), saving $23.85 on this shop,’ the spokesperson said.    

Aldi shared a breakdown of the Sydney man’s grocery receipt and how he could have saved by shopping at Aldi (note: Woolworths reusable bag total should read 30c)

‘In fact, the main pasta dish that it seems like the shopper is having for dinner, cost approximately $51.50 on our competitor’s receipt – more than the whole basket would cost them at Aldi.

‘We will never give up on offering Australian shoppers the best possible prices in the market. 

‘Every aspect of ALDI in Australia was built to offer the lowest prices in the market from our smaller format stores to our carefully curated range of high-quality groceries.’

One major item customers could save 100 per cent on is Aldi’s jumbo free-range eggs for $4.99. 

Aldi claims its products are at least 15.6 per cent cheaper when compared to the cheapest products of competitors and 24.7 per cent cheaper than equivalent branded products.

An Aldi spokesperson said the Sydney man’s 12 pack of free range jumbo-sixed eggs would have cost just $4.99 at Aldi (above) – a $5.01 saving

An 80 pack of baby wipes costs $2.69 at Aldi (above) compared to the Sydney man’s $6 Woolworths wipes

However Woolworths said its own brand products or cheaper options could have also seen the Sydney man save big bucks.

Woolworths recently added 650 home-brand items to its Low Price program and has about 5,000 products on special every week. 

‘We’re working hard to manage the industry-wide inflationary pressure and will continue to focus on providing our customers with great value in partnership with our suppliers,’ a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

Woolworths (above) introduced another 650 products to its Low Price program to help Aussies battle the ongoing cost-of-living crisis

‘While this [Aldi] list does not compare like for like with our Woolworths own brand products, which offers great quality products at a competitive price, we have a large number of ways customers can get great value each time they shop.’

Woolworths’ prices have gone up 2.7 per cent when compared to last year, which is below the 3.3. per cent industry average.

Aussies will be looking for more everyday savings after the Reserve Bank of Australia again raised interest rates, resulting in a new 0.85 per cent cash rate. 

The 0.50 per cent jump is just the second rate rise in 11 years after the central bank moved from the record low setting of 0.1 per cent in May to curb spiralling inflation.

If banks were to pass on the rate increase in full, it would see Aussies paying an extra $133 a month on loans worth $500,000 over 25 years and an extra $265 a month on a loan worth $1 million.

The Big Four banks – the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB – are all expected to implement the increase which will cost the average homeowner another $2,000 per year.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the cost of living crisis will only make the situation ‘harder’.

Woolworths’ prices have gone up 2.7 per cent when compared to last year, which is below the 3.3. per cent industry average

‘High and rising inflation, rising interest rates, falling real wages at a time when our ability to respond to these challenges is constrained by the fact that the budget is absolutely heaving with Liberal debt,’ he said.

‘We need to be honest and up front with the Australian people about the nature, the severity, the magnitude of this inflation challenge that we confront.’

He added that economists, government advisors and the RBA all predict that the jump in costs ‘will get harder before it gets easier’.

On Tuesday the Reserve Bank of Australia (above) announced a 0.85 per cent cash rate increase

‘Australians already know that because they are paying ever higher prices for their groceries and energy and now to service their mortgage as well,’ he said.   

At the same time, a supply chain still recovering from Covid and natural disasters from earlier this year are still affecting food and energy production demands.

The RBA hopes that tightening the money supply will help bring down some of these costs.