Supermarket war cools

WESFARMERS chief Rob Scott says price competition between Coles and Woolworths is “rational” and shoppers have not rebelled against price hikes on various highprofile grocery items.

But the head of the nation’s biggest retail group has stressed price increases in key supermarket items such as roast chooks does not mean Coles is taking its foot off the price-cutting pedal.

Mr Scott made the com- ments as the latest sales report from Coles showed price deflation — the rate at which prices are falling — has slowed from 2.9 per cent in the first three months of the financial year to 0.7 per cent in the three months to March.

Coles and Woolworths hiked the price of roast chooks by $1 each earlier this year in a move welcomed by some investors who argue the duo have given up too much profit in lowering prices for shoppers.