Australia's 7% Grocery Jump, Explained by Strawberries and Store Gaps
An eight-item grocery basket across Australia's four major supermarket chains cost 7% more in June than in March, rising $2.79 from $40.83 to $43.62, according to Choice's 10th quarterly government-funded price survey. The Guardian
The survey was priced in June and reported on 23 September 2026. It covered 104 stores. Choice mystery shoppers visited 27 Woolworths, 27 Coles, 23 Aldi and 27 IGA stores to price the same basket: milk, royal gala apples, strawberries, bananas, potatoes, avocado, basmati rice and beef mince. Like a fixed shopping list, the basket is meant to allow a like-for-like read over time.
Strawberries explain much of the change. They rose 37% on average, from $4.68 to $6.41, accounting for about half of the total basket increase. Choice also recorded higher average prices for mince, milk and avocados. Apples and basmati rice were cheaper on average.
Results differed by retailer. Aldi stayed cheapest, with its basket up 8% from $37.14 in March to $40.10 in June. Woolworths had the smallest increase, up 2% from $40.08 to $40.95. Coles rose 6%, or $2.44, from $40.10 to $42.54. IGA rose 11% on average, from $45.42 to $50.42, and stayed the most expensive of the four.
The 7% quarterly move was well above general inflation. Australia's consumer price index, the broad measure of price change across the economy, rose 0.6% in the March-to-June quarter, according to government data cited by Choice.
Choice also priced a separate 10-item spotlight basket of healthy products. It cost $28.79 at Aldi, $33.52 at Woolworths, $34.25 at Coles and $42.27 at IGA. The ordering matched the main basket, with Aldi lowest and IGA highest by a wide margin.
The program is a recurring monitoring exercise. Choice ran a round in March 2026, and its June release described coverage of 104 supermarkets in 27 locations across Australia. Choice Earlier rounds used different baskets and methods, including a 15-item home-brand assessment and fresh fruit comparisons.
The checks continue amid longstanding concentration in Australian grocery retail. Coles and Woolworths had a combined share of 31 per cent in the 1960s and about 65 per cent at the time of ABC News reporting in February 2024. ABC News
The broader context here is concentration versus volatility. The 7% headline looks large next to 0.6% inflation, but half the basket increase came from a single fresh item. Without strawberries, the remaining rise is narrower and spread across animal proteins and dairy, partly offset by falls in apples and rice. For policymakers and retail analysts, the split by chain may matter more. Woolworths held fairly steady on this basket while IGA moved higher, widening the gap between cheapest and priciest to more than $10. Whether that gap lasts into the next quarterly read will show if June captured temporary fresh-produce pressure or a longer shift in pricing strategy.
