Shoppers slam Coles, Woolworths over sudden soft drink price increase

Hordes of angry shoppers have taken to social media to slam Aussie supermarkets after the prices of many soft drinks seemingly jumped overnight.

One disgruntled shopper posted on a popular Facebook group, Markdown Addicts Australia, where he compared the prices of Coca Cola No Sugar, which jumped suddenly by almost 70 cents per litre at Woolworths Dapto.

“Is it just me or did Coke prices jump right up?” wrote the confused customer in his post.

Alongside his post, the man shared two near-identical images – but the only difference was one price tag reading “2.18” per litre and the other says “$2.84”.

Fellow shoppers flooded the comments, with hundreds agreeing that soft drink prices had “skyrocketed” across the board for most supermarkets.

“Everyone needs to check everything as everything’s gone up in price. It’s ridiculous,” warned one shopper.

“Everything has gone up. Some things I've noticed over a dollar up. Doesn't sound like much but when you do big shops and have a hundred items that's $100 or more,” wrote another.

“It’s distressing seeing how much the cost of living has increased, but wages have not. People are struggling enough as it is,” wrote a third shopper.

Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, confirmed the prices have reached their highest point since July 2011.

As a result of this inflation, Aussie shoppers are feeling the pinch – especially when it comes to basics like drinks, toilet paper, petrol and cooking oil.

Woolworths confirm cost increase from suppliers

A spokesperson for Woolworths confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that their prices reflected wholesale cost increases from their suppliers, such as Asahi.

“In response to a wholesale cost increase from the supplier, we've updated our retail prices,” said the spokesperson.

“We understand that every dollar counts and never take the decision to increase prices lightly,” they added.

“We'll continue to work closely with our suppliers to offer value and competitive prices across our customers’ shop.”

Meanwhile, a Coles spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia that the supermarket giant is committed to offering their customers the most value.

“Coles is committed to offering value to our customers and the prices in question are competitive with those offered by other retailers,” said the spokesperson.

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Shoppers slam Coles and Woolworths for overnight price hikes

Some shoppers voiced their frustrations directly with the supermarkets, with many posting on the official Coles and Woolworths Facebook pages.

“Wow! Just wow Woolworths. Please explain to us, your customers, WHY the prices of your 30 pack of Schweppes variety (Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Solo, Sunkist, Mountain Dew) has JUST jumped from $16 to $30,” wrote a frustrated Woolworths customer.

Fellow Woolworths customers took to the comments to chime in, saying they were “shocked” and “disappointed” by the price hike.

However, several shoppers pointed out it was happening across the board, with one man showing the similar price for the same product at Coles in a comment saying: “Same increase at other retailers, what does that tell you?”

In a similar post to Coles, one shopper slammed their Bundoora Square store for increasing the price of the 10-pack of Kirks Lemonade cans by $4.50 in a week.

“Coles Bundoora Square,” wrote the man. “If this isn't a grab for cash I'll eat my hat. Last week $5 [for] a 10-pack."

In the accompanying photo, the man lifts a tab to reveal the $9.50 price tag for the soft drink.

Another shopper replied to the man’s post by sharing a photo of the same product on Woolworths’ website, which is advertised for $10.55.

Meanwhile, hundreds of shoppers on the Markdown Addicts Australia Facebook page also revealed they had seen the same price hikes from IGA.

However, many customers maintained that Aldi had kept their low prices and urged shoppers to buy their soft drinks from there instead.

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