Pressure is building to force all food retailers to adopt " unit pricing " - where each item on the shelves has the price per one hundred grams - or the price per one hundred Milli-litres - in addition to the price of the item.
It is difficult for shoppers to determine which pack offers the best value when a similar product is presented in packs of different quantities. A price based on a common denominator levels the playing field.
As is usual these days, there is opposition to the suggestion from some quarters. Claims are made that the introduction of unit pricing will encourage Coles and Woolworths to import more cheap goods from low cost countries and that these will disadvantage Australian made products.
Aldi has had unit pricing for some time and it has been welcomed by shoppers - with no discernible effect on local products.
One of the advantages of adopting this method of price comparison is that it will encourage manufacturers to review the way their product is presented. Some manufacturers try and seek advantage by puffing up the pack size to give the impression that the customer is gaining more of the contents. That will not work when the unit price comparison is present - and in many cases the deceptive pack design is more expensive because of the quantity of packing material involved.
Grocery prices have increased well beyond the rate of inflation in the past twelve months and any system that allows shoppers to make better price comparisons is welcome.
The only losers will be those who employ deception to gain advantage for their products !
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