How to save money on groceries

20 April 2022

With discussion in the community about possible inflation and interest rate rises, many people are looking at ways to save money to balance the family budget. One way to help you budget and save while grocery shopping, is using unit pricing.

Unit pricing at grocery stores shows consumers not just the cost of a product, but what the value of that product is as a cost per standard unit of measurement on shelf labels for groceries. Unit pricing makes it easy to check, compare and save when buying groceries.

Large grocery stores and some online grocery retailers must display the unit price of packaged foods (such as breakfast cereal, flour and rice) and other grocery products (such as toilet paper and detergents).

The price of many grocery products sold unpackaged, such as fresh fruit and vegetables and fresh meat, is also shown per unit of measurement.

Use unit pricing to get better value for money by comparing:

  • different package sizes and package types
  • different brands
  • special and normal prices
  • packaged and loose – for example spinach
  • fresh, frozen, dried or canned – for example peas
  • similar and substitute products – for example rice types
  • different convenience levels – for example cheese in blocks, slices, grated or diced
  • different grocery retailers, including online stores.
  • unit prices in different parts of the supermarket. The same product may be sold in different sections, for example, cheese, meats, seafood, nuts, fruit and vegetables.

Packaged groceries will often be sold by weight, and liquids sold by volume. For example, you might check and see a 500g box of traditional rolled oats for $4.25, with a unit price of $0.85 per 100g. You could compare that with a pack of rolled oats sachets for $4.80, with a unit price of $1.41 per 100g. Now you can decide which is better value and would suit your situation better.

For more information on unit pricing and how it can help you save money, visit the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s website: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/groceries/grocery-unit-prices