Australian grocery comparison app Frugl Grocery has launched a comprehensive analysis of grocery prices in Australian supermarkets.
Released quarterly ahead of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the Frugl GPI is said to track grocery price changes at the overall, topline level while also revealing inflationary trends for a range of shopper personas and grocery categories.
Frugl Managing Director and CEO Sean Smith says the Frugl GPI was created to provide a more accurate, timely and relevant measure of grocery price inflation so Australian households could make more informed decisions.
“By its own admission, there are limitations to the ABS calculated CPI as an indicator of shifting costs of living as it does not analyse different spending patterns and underlying inflation measures like weather events,” he says.
“The Frugl Grocery Price Index (Frugl GPI) is a separate index which now aims to take a more focused look at what is really happening to households at a grocery level, as an additional indicator of the real cost of living changes, without the noise of additional categories, nor the omission of extreme but relevant pricing changes.”
Key findings
The FY22 Q4 Report, released today, reveals grocery prices have held relatively steady compared to the previous quarter.
“However prices are still historically high compared to this time last year and suppliers are forewarning that they will be increasing their prices so retailers will have no choice but to pass these onto consumers later in the year,” says Mr Smith.
Frugl GPI also shows:
- Annual grocery price inflation continues to rise to a record level of 6.75%
- Based on the 14 categories analysed, the largest quarterly price increases were seen in Fruit & Vegetable (7.48%) and Pantry (6.08%)
- Quarterly price decreases were experienced in Pet (-1.74%), Beef (-1.58%) and Pork (-1.03%) however these decreases still do not return prices to the historic “normal”
- Beef’s decrease reverses a trend of quarterly increases however it still has the highest annual increased across all categories at 14.60%
- From the five personas, the greatest quarterly price increase was experienced by Single Professionals (5.59%), followed by New Parents (3.29%), with these two personas also experiencing the highest annual price increases as well.
To view the Frugl GPI (July 2022) in full, visit fruglgpi.com.au.
