On 21 March 2025, we released our final report for the 2024-25 supermarkets inquiry. The final report addresses key issues identified in the ACCC’s interim report, and analysed during the second phase of the ACCC’s inquiry. It also presents the ACCC’s recommendations to the government. The report covers issues relating to: consumer experience; retail competition; supply chains; supermarket margins.

On 25 January 2024, the Australian Government announced that it will direct the ACCC to conduct an inquiry into Australia’s supermarket sector. The inquiry will examine the pricing practices of the supermarkets and the relationship between wholesale, including farmgate, and retail prices. The supermarkets inquiry was run over one year. The ACCC provided an interim report to the Australian Government by 31 August 2024. We provided the final report to the Treasurer on 28 February 2025, and published on 21 March 2025.

The final report for the ACCC's supermarkets inquiry has made 20 recommendations after finding that ALDI, Coles and Woolworths are some of the most profitable supermarket businesses among global peers and their average product margins have increased over the past five financial years. The recommendations, which include clearer pricing practices, greater transparency for suppliers and reforms to planning and zoning laws, are designed to improve competition in the supermarket sector, make a difference for consumers and give suppliers fairer bargaining conditions. Aspects of Australia’s supermarket sector, which is dominated by Coles and Woolworths, are not working well and this is leading to poorer outcomes for consumers and suppliers than would be expected in a more competitive market. “In the past 12 months the ACCC has heard from more than 20,000 consumers who responded to our consumer survey, received more than 100 public submissions, held eight supplier roundtables, reviewed tens of thousands of internal documents, conducted private hearings and ten days of public hearings, and analysed billions of points of supermarket data,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

In 2024, the ACCC conducted an inquiry to examine pricing, competition and emerging issues in Australia's supermarket sector. The final report of our inquiry is due to the Treasurer on Friday 28 February. The ACCC has engaged with over 20,000 consumers, conducted eight supplier roundtable discussions, examined tens of thousands of internal documents, held private hearings and ten days of public hearings, analysed billions of supermarket data points, and received over 100 public submissions. The inquiry has identified a range of issues in the supermarket sector that warrant attention.

The ACCC consumer survey received 21,481 responses, which is more than any other survey we have conducted. The survey sought to understand consumers’ experiences and behaviours in relation to grocery shopping and their views on pricing, competition and other issues. Many consumers who responded to the survey expressed concerns about their supermarket shopping experiences, including high pricing, confusing pricing and discounting practices, and privacy concerns resulting from self-serve checkouts and loyalty programs.

The ACCC ran a survey of consumers from 29 February to 2 April 2024 to better understand how they engage with supermarkets. The ACCC received 21,481 survey responses. A snapshot of the insights from this survey can be found alongside the Supermarkets Inquiry interim report.[5]

The ACCC's 266-page interim report into supermarkets marks the half-way point of its year-long inquiry, which was ordered by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in January. As part of its investigation, the competition watchdog spoke to more than 21,000 customers, many of whom said they were concerned about higher prices and had difficulties finding the best value for products. Customers also said they don't trust "sale price" claims and were worried about being penalised for not signing up to loyalty programs.

Australian consumers are asked to share information about how they shop and what they experience through an online survey published today as part of the ACCC’s supermarkets inquiry. The survey, which runs until 2 July 2024, asks consumers about their grocery shopping habits, including which supermarkets they use, how often they shop, and how they choose where to shop. The ACCC will use this information to inform its supermarkets inquiry, which is examining competition and pricing practices in the Australian supermarket sector.

Our final Supermarkets Inquiry report has been released. You may remember that the ACCC was tasked with conducting an inquiry into Australia's supermarket sector early last year. After consulting over 20,000 consumers, receiving more than 100 public submissions, and analysing billions of points of supermarket data, we've landed on 20 recommendations to address key issues within the sector that have been identified over the course of the year-long inquiry.

In 2024, the ACCC conducted an inquiry to examine pricing, competition and emerging issues in Australia's supermarket sector. The final report of our inquiry is due to the Treasurer on Friday 28 February. To inform this inquiry, we gathered a range of information from consumers and small businesses. Many consumers struggling with grocery costs reported buying less, skipping meals, and feeling distressed. Rural and low-income families reported high prices and limited choice, while farmers and small business raised concerns about supermarkets’ bargaining power.

Our final Supermarkets Inquiry report has been released. You may remember that the ACCC was tasked with conducting an inquiry into Australia's supermarket sector early last year. After consulting over 20,000 consumers, receiving more than 100 public submissions, and analysing billions of points of supermarket data, we've landed on 20 recommendations to address key issues within the sector that have been identified over the course of the year-long inquiry.

During its initial work, the ACCC received over 80 public submissions and spoke to more than 21,000 customers across Australia between February and April 2024 – the largest number of responses it has ever received for a consumer survey. The Interim Report makes no specific findings or recommendations, which are set to be in a Final Report that is handed to the Government in early 2025, but the ACCC’s work is exceptionally detailed. The Interim Report explores in detail issues including concentration and competition in the sector, rising prices and shrinkflation, supermarket buyer power and other consumer and producer concerns.

After reviewing data from a survey involving over 20,000 consumers; hosting a series of roundtables with farmers, suppliers and industry bodies; and analysing more than 100 public submissions, the ACCC released its long-awaited Supermarkets inquiry final report on 21 March 2025, concluding a comprehensive year-long inquiry. This report addresses issues concerning consumer experience, retail competition, supply chains, and supermarket margins. It reaffirms that Australia’s supermarket industry is highly concentrated, with an oligopoly structure.

The Albanese Government has formally issued a direction to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate pricing and competition in the supermarket sector to ensure Australians are paying a fair price for their groceries. The inquiry – the first of its kind since 2008 – will investigate the competitiveness of retail prices and allegations of price gouging in the supermarket sector. The ACCC will provide an interim report by 31 August 2024 and a final report by 28 February 2025.

The ACCC’s final report on supermarkets The ACCC published a final report into the supermarket sector in February 2025. Its 20 recommendations included requiring large supermarkets to publish prices on their websites and for very large chains (ie, Coles and Woolworths) to allow online comparison tools to access the data. Further recommendations regarded grocery supply chains and trading arrangements, including greater transparency. The ACCC’s report provided evidence that the supermarket sector is highly concentrated, with Coles and Woolworths holding a large share of national grocery sales and barriers to entry being significant.

Australian Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC) has wrapped up its examination of the supermarket sector, presenting 20 suggestions aimed at boosting competition in the market. The recommended actions include measures such as adopting clearer pricing strategies, enhancing supplier transparency, and revising current planning and zoning laws. Mick Keogh, deputy chair of the ACCC, remarked: "Over the last year, the ACCC has engaged with over 20,000 consumers through our [survey], received more than 100 public submissions, conducted eight supplier roundtable discussions, examined tens of thousands of internal documents, held private hearings, and ten days of public hearings, analyzing billions of supermarket data points."

We've released our final report for the Supermarkets Inquiry, making 20 recommendations to address key issues within the sector that have been identified over the course of the year-long inquiry. These recommendations aim to improve outcomes for consumers and suppliers by increasing transparency, strengthening competition and enhancing fairness in the supermarket sector.

Today, the highly anticipated report from Australian Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC) regarding the Supermarkets Inquiry has been unveiled, spanning more than 400 pages. The findings reveal that Australia's supermarkets are significantly profitable by global standards, ranking among the top in their category. However, the report did not substantiate claims of price gouging, and notably, the term itself was not mentioned. The straightforward answer is no. There appears to be no substantial evidence of price gouging from this or other inquiries.

The Albanese Labor Government has today released the report of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) inquiry into supermarket pricing and competition. The ACCC’s inquiry confirms the market dominance of the big supermarkets and makes recommendations to help deliver fairer prices for families and fairer deals for farmers. The government will carefully consider the ACCC’s 20 recommendations, which span pricing transparency, competition, and protections for suppliers and consumers.

Coles and Woolworths have raised their prices amid a cost-of-living crisis to enhance their profits, employing promotions that obscure the clarity of shopping deals, according to a comprehensive report from the competition regulator. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission determined that these major chains, alongside the discount competitor Aldi, rank among the most lucrative supermarket enterprises globally, indicating a pressing need for extensive reform within the sector. In a detailed 441-page report published late Thursday, the ACCC proposed 20 recommendations for the federal government. The recommendations aim to enhance the clarity of pricing, promotions, and loyalty programs to enable shoppers to better discern whether an offer is genuinely advantageous.

The Interim Report for the ACCC’s Supermarkets Inquiry, published today, outlines what the ACCC has heard at the halfway point of the year-long Inquiry. This includes detailed information gathered through stakeholder submissions, responses to the ACCC’s consumer survey and feedback provided by suppliers at roundtable discussions held around rural and regional Australia. The ACCC is continuing to consider the various issues raised, and has not yet reached any concluded views. The ACCC will present the results of its analysis in the final report of the Inquiry, due in February 2025.[4]

In early 2024 the ACCC was tasked with conducting an inquiry into Australia's supermarket sector to examine the pricing practices of supermarkets and the relationship between wholesale and retail prices. After reviewing a consumer survey with more than 20,000 respondents and extensive consultation with industry and other stakeholders, the ACCC delivered its final report in March 2025. The inquiry identified concerns around high market concentration, barriers to entry and expansion, and promotional practices affecting consumer ability to assess value for money.

THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission released its long-awaited Supermarket Inquiry report this morning, offering a list of 20 recommendations, but stopping short of attempting to clip the wings of dominant national retail operators Woolworths and Coles. Aspects of Australia’s supermarket sector are not working well, the report said, and this was leading to poorer outcomes for consumers and suppliers than would be expected in a more competitive market. However ACCC’s report recommended a range of potential legislative and policy reforms and other actions aimed at collectively address aspects of the market that are not working well, including where competition is unlikely to emerge, and bolstering competition over the medium to longer-term where it is possible to do so.

The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced at a Press Club address that the ACCC would be directed to examine pricing practices of supermarkets and the relationship between wholesale and retail prices. An interim report will be provided to the Government later in 2024. A final report is due to be provided to the Government in early 2025.

The ACCC is examining the pricing practices of the supermarkets and the relationship between wholesale, including farmgate and retail prices. As part of the inquiry, we conducted a survey to hear from consumers about how they choose where to buy your groceries, and which products they buy. We also heard about any particular concerns that have arisen for consumers in relation to supermarkets. Responses will be grouped together and will help inform our understanding of competition between the supermarkets, including other grocery retailers, and how people choose where to purchase their groceries and why.[6]

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has finalised its inquiry into the Australian supermarket sector and made 20 recommendations to provide better outcomes for consumers and suppliers. “In the past 12 months the ACCC has heard from more than 20,000 consumers who responded to our consumer survey, received more than 100 public submissions, held eight supplier roundtables, reviewed tens of thousands of internal documents, conducted private hearings and ten days of public hearings, and analysed billions of points of supermarket data,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said. The recommendations, which include clearer pricing practices, greater transparency for suppliers and reforms to planning and zoning laws, are designed to improve competition in the supermarket sector, are aimed at making a difference for consumers and give suppliers fairer bargaining conditions.[10]

With cost-of-living pressures mounting, the Australian government has directed the ACCC to launch a major inquiry into the supermarket sector, looking at pricing practices, competition, and the relationship between wholesale and retail prices. The podcast discusses the scope of the inquiry, including consumer experience, competition issues, and how the ACCC will gather evidence from shoppers and suppliers.