Hip pocket pain comes for shoppers – and for supermarket giants
Woolworths and Coles had hoped a year under fire – amid accusation of price gouging – would give way to easier times. A wave of price increases won’t help.
After a year of political firestorms, Woolworths and Coles executives had good reason to think they were through the worst. They might want to think again. The supermarket giants are facing a wave of cost increases they will have no choice but to pass on to shoppers, leaving them in an unenviable position of balancing profits with demands to keep prices low.
So far, the war in the Middle East hasn’t had a direct impact on supermarket prices. But, as days pass with no resolution, clogged supply chains are pushing up the price of oil and other raw materials. Already, these higher costs have made it to food producers. Soon, they’ll hit the checkout.