woolies?

justcruisin01 · Guru

woolies?

petengail · Guru

Mate - brew your own - 17c a stubbie and better beer than any commercial. Notice how Woolworths are making a big song and dance about supporting banana farmers. Its just smoke and mirrors, they will be ripping someone else off(usually us) to pay for their exercise in P.R

stan747 · Veteran Member

one of our local dairy farmers in Gympie, has just gone out of business after 105 years because woolworths and coles want to sell milk at $1 a litre. Reckons he'll loose $100,000 a year if he sells to them at the new contract price. Wouldn't buy there if you paid me.

Gerty Dancer · Guru

I had an e-mail today containing a long list of very worrying facts about Woolies and Coles supermarket chains. Trouble is, I cant verify it, so wouldnt dare post it!

I think Snopes and Hoax-slayer are American. Anybody know how to check info about Aussie companies?

jimricho · Guru

Gerty Dancer wrote:

I had an e-mail today containing a long list of very worrying facts about Woolies and Coles supermarket chains. Trouble is, I cant verify it, so wouldnt dare post it!

I think Snopes and Hoax-slayer are American. Anybody know how to check info about Aussie companies?

Hoax-slayer is Aussie, Snopes - American.

I still buy Dairy Farmers, it tastes much better than that wimpy generic stuff. They claim the same butter fat (cream) content so I don't know why it is different but it is.

I read in the SMH business section a suggestion by Foodland that Coles and Woolies may be engaging in some predatory pricing here. (My words, not theirs, but that was the gist of the story)

jimricho · Guru

More on this topic....

http://www.smh.com.au/business/cutprice-milk-strategy-sours-as-supermarket-wars-turn-nasty-20110211-1aqgc.html

jules47 · The Happy Helper

Woolies - I am boycotting them at the moment - had one of their orange reward cards - spend $30 get 4c of fuel deals - well apparently they stopped doing this last September!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this all Woolies petrol stations or just our local one in Yamanto? They are airing an ad at the moment to link it to your credit card to get benefits - but what if youdon't want a credit card - what are the benefits for us ordinary folk? Anyway, as I say I am avoiding them, if I can.

Beth54 · Guru

jules47 wrote:

Woolies - I am boycotting them at the moment - had one of their orange reward cards - spend $30 get 4c of fuel deals - well apparently they stopped doing this last September!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this all Woolies petrol stations or just our local one in Yamanto? They are airing an ad at the moment to link it to your credit card to get benefits - but what if youdon't want a credit card - what are the benefits for us ordinary folk? Anyway, as I say I am avoiding them, if I can.

Must be just your local. It's ongoing. I just ignore the stuff about credit cards and Qantas points. I don't have, and can't get, a credit card, and don't fly Qantas.

Happywanderer · The Master

Jules, I have the orange everyday reward cards, still works here.
Although I didn't use it today as never know when the petrol discount expires so got it on the docket.

jimricho · Guru

I have a BP Mastercard.... 5% cashback on fuel (BP) and 1% on all other purchases. Better than points that I'll never use. I had a Visa and before cancelling it I "cashed in" the points with gift certificates and bought some kitchen appliances etc.

Last time I flew anywhere it was with airlines that didn't take points (not the one's I had at the time) although back in the 90s I had a bunch of points with United Airlines that I used for an awards flight to USA.

I lost 120,000 points when Ansett went up the spout

Patto44 · Senior Member

I have a 'rewards' card and my wife has one also.

I haven't used mine for two months so Woolies sent me an email last Monday offering 12cents a litre discount if I use it before Sunday. (I fill up with about 100+ litres).

We will use mine for a few months until they offer my wife a better discount. Only pick the eyes out of their specials and the same at Coles.

petengail · Guru

From the replies above and from talking with neighbours and friends one would have to conclude that the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths is "on the nose" with a lot of Australians. And we think its just groceries, not at all. Liquor , Fuel, Hardware, Poker machines, what do they not own, or in the case of dairy farmers, to name one, manipulate to their own ends... for one I am suprised that they have not found some way to take legal action against forums such as this one just for airing our opinions... Does anyone have a good word to say about them?

jules47 · The Happy Helper

Well, that is interesting - I will have to try it out when I head down South next week - the "local" one for me is 40k away - but I am sure I will find them along the way. Thanks for the info.

Ma · Guru

Just dropped into Woollies at Moruya to do some top up groceries and noticed that bananas were $6.98 a kilo.

You can't tell me that ALL our banana production was affected by the cyclone. What about the ones I saw last week on the way through Coffs Harbour.

There's a rip off for you in my opinion

Beth54 · Guru

Ma wrote:

Just dropped into Woollies at Moruya to do some top up groceries and noticed that bananas were $6.98 a kilo.

You can't tell me that ALL our banana production was affected by the cyclone. What about the ones I saw last week on the way through Coffs Harbour.

There's a rip off for you in my opinion

Same price at Coles this arvo Ma. And I was thinking exactly the same. What about Coffs bananas?!

tonyd · Guru

Woolies rewards card used to be good for petrol. I have a strong suspicion that when you shop at BigW you still get points, but NOT the petrol discount. I don't want Qantas points, I want petrol points.
And as for all that malarkey about how they and Coles are paying banana growers the differential in prices . . . yes, I also believe in the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny.
Mind you, Coles have Connoisseur icecream at half price this week, for which they can be forgiven a multitude of sins. Yum, yum. pig's bum.
Cheers, Tony (in a stinking hot Perth. What a day to paint the kitchen!. At least 37 degrees and NO breeze at all.) Mind you, the paint dried quickly . . .

Happywanderer · The Master

I'm off to Coles tomorrow.

Beth54 · Guru

It's difficult to know which way to go. As pensioners on a tight budget, do we just go with the cheapest, regardless of where it comes and who sells it? Or stand your ground and boycott the the bas***ds?!

justcruisin01 · Guru

A local farmer here used to grow spuds & pumpkins for woolies, they screwed the price down so low that the offer was less than what it cost him to plant the crop.
They also bought the rights of the certified pumpkin seed & closed it down to stop growers as this type needs the certified seed to be any good. You got it , he doesn't
grow any more.

As a farmer many tears ago we grew many different types of pumpkins for our own use. Never see any of these now , all killed off & that just leaves the three types that you find where ever you go & they are all s#%t compared to what we had years back.
I have put this argument to the local store managment,& yep they dont care.
We could dig the spuds, store them in a corn sack in a dark area & they would keep through till the next season, now the come out of cold storage this morning with the shoots on them & going bad within a few days.

If they call this progress then I think I must have missed some thing some where.
Just another good idear that didn't work.
MILK ,we all know where it comes from, yes I have milked anough B@#$%^ cows,
like the bloke says, I just want milk. good old natural milk, they can't even leave that alone gotta stuff it up as well.
Some of us still remember where natural foods come from.

-- Edited by justcruisin01 on Wednesday 16th of February 2011 09:29:55 PM

Ron and Shirley · Senior Member

petengail wrote:
Does anyone have a good word to say about them?

Surprised re the comments about the Coles & Woolies Supermarket as rip off merchants. Don't shop there.

They, like anywhere else. can be rip offs merchants if you allow them to be.

At home we pick and choose where we do our shopping, and save a considerable amount.

We live close to a Shopping centre that besides a good fresh food section (butches, chicken, green groceries, hotbread, etc) the complex contains Coles, Woolworths/Safeway (both with liquor outlets) and Aldi. The complex also contains a very good Liquor Merchant Dan Murphy (who always price matches any advertised price). Within 5km there is an IGA with liquor outlet and about 10km away there is BWS hotel/bottle shop.

Also we have Coles, Woolworths/Caltex, Apco (which are virtually the same price) then there is BP (dearer), Mobile (dearest) fuel outlets nearby.

We have found that the normal, maybe RRP, of most items we want each week do not vary much between our local Coles, Woolies, and IGA. Ignoring Aldi where we do a fair amount of shopping because we find their products are good and cheaper than the "named" brands at the major Supermarkets, but Aldi is not everywhere.

We scan the Supermarket junk mail for the items that are on special and purchase where they are cheapest. To get to the Supermarkets we pass through the fresh food section and check the prices. Often we return to purchase there, but not always.

Today for example whilst in Coles, non-advertised steak on special was much cheaper than at the butchers and cooked tonight it just melted in the mouth. Again non-advertised the frozen meals that we sometimes have at the end of a very busy day were half price, a saving of $16 for eight meals. Pack of toilet rolls were $10 less than normal price. At Woolies dishwashing tablets were $10 a pack cheaper than normal price.

Woolies twice last year had our favoured 1kg packs of coffee beans at 2 for the price of one, a saving of $26.

Admittedly these are just snap shots, however if you needed these items would you go to say IGA to purchase because Woolies is a rip off. Yeah right, Get Real.

We certainly use the 4c/L off the fuel at Coles or Woolies, depending where we spent our $30+, as $4 a tank is better in our pocket.

Returning to beer, my favoured beer over the years has gone from $35 to $42 for a block (30 cans) at all outlets though Dan Murphy is about $4 cheaper. Woolies a few years back started 2 for $60 about once a month. Coles, BWS, IGA followed suit so virtually at any time this was the price we would pay. Sadly these specials have gone through the roof being $64 for 60 cans on special, LOL.

BTW I agree the farmers are getting poor prices for their produce, but our local fresh food area prices are not that much less than the Supermarket however the quality seems to be better. Maybe it is the "middle men" that should be looked at.

-- Edited by Ron and Shirley on Wednesday 16th of February 2011 11:06:57 PM

Allara · Senior Member

I have a nice bit of Hereford defrosting for lunch. Home grown, no hormones, chemicals or grain..just grass fed, healthy beef. Have a house cow "Deliah", a jersey, don't milk her now as I only need enough milk for tea and coffee. Used to make butter and ice cream...those were the days.

I get concerned about what happens to stock sent off to feedlots, filled with anti-biotics, stuffed with grain and hormones, walking around a small area, often concrete, so they can gain as much weight as possible. Then to see the prices being charged in the supermarkets compared to the prices the grower gets. The costs of production keep going up but there is no corresponding rise in stock prices. I would hate to see more farmers pull the plug. As it is you are eating more and more foriegn food, we already have the best in the world....don't start me on using grain to make ethanol instead of food.

Sorry...will get off the soap box now.

Beth54 · Guru

Allara wrote:

I have a nice bit of Hereford defrosting for lunch. Home grown, no hormones, chemicals or grain..just grass fed, healthy beef. Have a house cow "Deliah", a jersey, don't milk her now as I only need enough milk for tea and coffee. Used to make butter and ice cream...those were the days.

I get concerned about what happens to stock sent off to feedlots, filled with anti-biotics, stuffed with grain and hormones, walking around a small area, often concrete, so they can gain as much weight as possible. Then to see the prices being charged in the supermarkets compared to the prices the grower gets. The costs of production keep going up but there is no corresponding rise in stock prices. I would hate to see more farmers pull the plug. As it is you are eating more and more foriegn food, we already have the best in the world....don't start me on using grain to make ethanol instead of food.

Sorry...will get off the soap box now.

Totally agree Allara. Grass fed is the healthiest and by far the tastiest. As the daughter of an old butcher from way back, I've been taught to appreciate good meat. Dad was also an expert on smallgoods. Thus I'm very fussy about sausages, bacon and ham. Alas he's not here anymore to advise us.

And Ron & Shirley..I like your logic.

-- Edited by Beth54 on Thursday 17th of February 2011 07:51:23 AM

Allara · Senior Member

Hey Beth,

It's sad to see the loss of the "good old days", when food had taste, remember the old apricots and the golden queen peaches, not to mention the tomatoes and remember when roses had such a lovely scent?...............ahh...those were the days.

Cheers
Allara

P2 · Veteran Member

Just in case some people don't realise Dan Murphy and First Choice liquor outlets are owned by Coles and Woolies, not sure who owns what but it is true, just go to their websites for confirmation, Cheers

brickies · Guru

Well I am a Woolies fan don't buy grog but they are the fresh food people and would not shop any where else if you shop carefully lots of good buys to be had

jimricho · Guru

Dan Murphy is Woolworths owned

petengail · Guru

Ma wrote:
I was at Aldi this morning and banana's were $4 something per K

Just dropped into Woollies at Moruya to do some top up groceries and noticed that bananas were $6.98 a kilo.

You can't tell me that ALL our banana production was affected by the cyclone. What about the ones I saw last week on the way through Coffs Harbour.

There's a rip off for you in my opinion

-- Edited by petengail on Thursday 17th of February 2011 10:23:51 AM

Gerty Dancer · Guru

Like you Brickies, for years I supported Woolies as a big Australian Company, but lately when they sell so few brands other than their own I'm a lot less impressed. Aldi mainly sell their own brands too, and they arent even Australian! Mostly I'm concerned about the power that such monopolies can have over us all.... if theres no competition left we'll just have to pay whatever Coles or Woolies want.

I shop at Superbarn because it has whatever we need and its only a 100m walk away. But when I lived in other places I shopped liked Ron'n'Shirley, picking up bargains wherever they were to be found.

On the road we try to go to local shops for fruit and meat in little towns, just adds to the "specialness" of a town somehow. Also we choose a supermarkets by wherever we can find a car-park close enough!!

sandsmere · Guru

Bananas in Woolies . . . around $7 kilo .

Bananas in IGA . . . . $4.25 kilo .

Today . Sunshine coast , Qld .

And that's just 1 item . You think because you get 8c / litre off fuel you are on a good thing ????? Grow up !

petengail · Guru

And to add insult to injury. Went to Aldi this morning, they had truss tomatoes on special for 2.50 a kg, we had to go to Woolworths this afternoon and they had the same tomatoes from the same company (they had a tag attached) and they were 7.00 a kg..