Mum's 'vintage' Woolworths receipt reveals huge price difference: 'So cheap'

An Aussie shopper was stunned to see how little groceries cost back in 2011.

If you've been to Woolworths lately, you know all too well that your weekly food shop has become more expensive, but by how much exactly? Bombarded by endless specials, it can be hard to remember how much things used to cost, but one Aussie mum has helped us do just that after finding a receipt from 2011.

The TikToker showed off the "vintage" docket on Sunday, quickly earning more than 100,000 views as fellow shoppers lamented how expensive groceries have become. Interestingly, the receipt also reveals that supermarket items haven't just become more expensive, they've also gotten smaller.

"I'm currently going through my wardrobe and I found this receipt in a coat pocket," the Woolies customer says in the video. "It's from 2011, very vintage and I was a new mum."

Woolworths receipt from 2011
This Woolworths receipt from 2011 shows just how much food prices have risen in the years since. Source: TikTok/@iknowtegan

The woman then goes through the items on the receipt, which are baby formula, spinach, capsicum, a Hass avocado, 200g of Cadbury dairy milk chocolate, 400g of Woolworths brand chocolate bullets, and lamb cutlets. The grand total? Just $49.59.

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The price of meat is what really caught the shopper's eye, noting that a pack of Heart Smart Lamb Cutlets cost just $13.50 in 2011. "That's so cheap," she says. Although she appears to mistake a 500g pack of cutlets for a 3kg serving, her shock is still valid, as they're currently priced at around $21.50.

How much would the same shop cost today?

Yahoo News has crunched the numbers, revealing how much prices have risen in a little more than a decade. In total, the same shop would cost around $80 at today's prices, an increase of almost 60 per cent.

NAN baby formula for sale at Woolworths
NAN baby formula is 50 per cent more expensive than it was in 2011, but as the tins are now also 100g smaller, the actual price increase is closer to 70 per cent. Source: Woolworths

Today, the baby formula alone costs $12 more, a mark-up of 50 per cent, but the tin has also shrunk by 100g, so the actual price increase is closer to 70 per cent. Milk chocolate has also become dramatically more expensive, costing around 65 per cent more than it did in 2011.

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Shocked viewers pointed out how some items have decreased in size while increasing in price over the years. "LOL that Cadbury is now 180g and $5.50," commented one shopper in reference to the formerly 200g block of chocolate that cost $3.69 in 2011.

Price increases for fresh produce like spinach and green capsicums were less dramatic at 34 per cent and 53 per cent respectively, while the price of avocados actually fell 19 per cent (Hass avocados are currently out of season, but in-season Shepard avocados are selling for $2 each).

Woolworths has been approached for comment.

Item

2011

2023

Effective Price Increase

Nan Gold 1 Baby Formula 900g

$23.99

$36 (800g)

68%

Spinach 160g

$1.49

$2

34%

Capsicum Green

$1.45

$2.23

53%

Avocado Hass

$2.48

2.00 (Shepard)

-19%

Lamb Cutlets 500g

$13.50

$21.50

59%

Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate 200g

$3.69

5.50 (180g)

65%

Woolworths Chocolate Bullets 400g

$2.99

$2.75 (226g)

62%

Total

$49.59

$79.20

60%

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