Emma Bickley:
The federal government is currently looking at ways for shoppers to more easily compare prices on supermarket shelves. I don’t know about you, but I love unit pricing. You know, I can compare apples with apples. But also, I want to know when brands are short‑changing me. Andrew Leigh is Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury. Welcome to the program.
Andrew Leigh:
Thanks Emma, great to be with you.
Bickley:
Thanks. Now Assistant Minister, shoppers are really feeling the pinch when they’re at the supermarket. What measures would you be looking at in this new consultation to make it easier for people to spot when they’re being short‑changed or when shrinkflation is playing a part?
Leigh:
Well Emma, Ishare your love for unit pricing. It makes it a whole lot easier when you’re a shopper. And one of the things we’ve seen in recent years is a lot of these instances of companies which have downsized their products but kept the price the same. We’ve seen it with Freddo Frogs. We’ve seen it with Smith’s chips. We’ve seen it with Pringles. We’ve even seen it with toilet paper. Kimberly‑Clark admitted to shortening the length of each square of toilet paper from 11 centimetres to 10 centimetres.
Bickley:
I mean, I thought Freddo Frog got a little bit skinnier, but I assumed he was just taking better care of himself? Are you saying he’s actually getting smaller?!
Leigh:
We can debate whether this is good for our waistlines or not, but the fact is shoppers want to know where whether they’re getting a fair deal. Beers used to be 375 mL – a lot of the time now they’re 330 mL. Some wine makers are even using 700 mL bottles rather than 750 mL bottles. And so, what we’re looking at is how we get the Unit Pricing Code working so people know when there’s been, you know, a shift in size in a way that’s adverse to them. We’re considering having better display requirements, expanding the scope of retailers who are covered, and making sure that the units that are being compared are consistent.
Bickley:
Now you mentioned that you would be doing more to protect the consumer there. Does this involve naming and shaming of the brands that are doing the wrong thing?
Leigh:
Well, that’s one of the things that was recommended by the competition watchdog’s supermarket inquiry earlier this year. It said that there will be notifications when package size changes in a way that’s adverse to consumers. So, that’s one of the things we’re looking at as well. All of this about delivering for consumers.
We’ve already increased funding to the competition watchdog to address harmful conduct in the supermarket sector. We’ve funded CHOICE to give shoppers more information on supermarket prices, we’ve increased penalties for breaches in the Competition and Consumer Law, and that’s alongside the work we’ve done to look after farmers with a beefed‑up Food and Grocery Code of Conduct that is now mandatory.
Bickley:
Assistant Minister, this is really important for our consumers when they go to the supermarket because they want to be sure that they’re making the most informed decision, particularly as budgets get tighter. Could you just explain again – just to make it really clear, unit pricing at the moment lets us compare apples with apples. So, regardless of package size, it will say, you know, $2.50 per 100 grams or something like that. What is this next step? What would they be showing us that would be different to that?
Leigh:
Great question Emma. A couple of things. First of all, there’s been critiques of how the unit pricing has been done. Sometimes it’s not always comparable. So it could be per 100 grams for some products and per kilogram for others, and that makes it a bit of a pain to compare. We’re looking at the number of retailers that are covered, and we’re also looking at civil penalties for non‑compliance.
So, this is about beefing up the information that consumers have in front of them, so they’re able to make better decisions. We don’t get what economist Pippa Malmgren calls shrinkflation going on before our eyes in a way that we can’t get the best deal at the checkout.
Bickley:
This is fantastic. Anything that makes our consumers more informed means that they’ll be able to better use the money that they’ve got; the budget that they’ve allocated. Are you accepting any kind of information from consumers if they wanted to be part of this process at all?
Andrew Leigh:
Absolutely. I think that there’ll be strong engagement from consumers and consumer peak groups. Consultation opens Monday and runs through to the 19th of September.
Bickley:
That is marvellous. Well, thank you very much for your time Assistant Minister, here on Saturday Breakfast.
Leigh:
Real pleasure Emma, thanks for the conversation.
Bickley:
Oh, and good luck with the Sydney Marathon tomorrow!
Leigh:
Yeah! Thank you, I’m looking forward to it. It’s not as good as the Canberra Marathon but you’ve got to take what you can get.
Bickley:
This is true, remember to stretch. Talk soon! Thanks.
Leigh:
Thank you, ciao.
Bickley:
Dr Andrew Leigh there.