Brekkie a real bargain
BREAKFAST is getting cheaper for households across the nation.
From bread and cereal to milk, eggs and fruit, the prices we pay have dropped by up to 10 per cent in the past three years. The fall comes amid heavy discounting sparked by foreign competitors such as Aldi expanding in Australia.
And the good news is, economists and consumer specialists believe that the lower prices are here to stay.
The shrinking cost of breakfast contrasts with Australia’s overall rise in consumer prices of 4.7 per cent since 2014, News Corp Australia’s analysis Bureau of Statistics inflation data has found.
Fruit has had the biggest fall, down 9.9 per cent, while cheese (down 7.7 per cent) and eggs (down 7.4 per cent) are also significantly cheaper.
Tea and coffee and jams and other spreads also cost less now.
CommSec chief economist Craig James said supermarkets and the makers of breakfast goods were reducing prices amid tough competition.
As Aldi expands rapidly, fel- low German supermarket groups Kaufland and Lidl are also eyeing Australia.
“If you can get people into the supermarket through offering cheap milk and bread, they’re more likely to buy their other items at the same time,” Mr James said.
“That’s a strategy that has been widely adopted by the supermarkets.”
Personal budgeting specialist David Rankin, the founder of Sort My Money, said consumers had benefited from supermarket discount wars over products including milk and eggs in recent years.
“I think they are the new norm and no retailer can afford to go against that trend,” Mr Rankin said.
“Consumers adapt pretty quickly and a pleasant surprise becomes their long-term expectation.
“As a consumer, if you see milk above $1 a litre now, you are looking elsewhere.
“Take advantage of low grocery prices and treat yourself to a nice breakfast at home – you don’t need to go out.”
MyBudget director Tammy Barton said she had noticed more people eating breakfast at home before going out for a morning coffee.
Homemade bacon and eggs cost about $2.50 per person, or $10 for a family of four, Ms Barton said.
“It’s $60-$80 if you go out for breakfast,” she said.
“Prepare food from scratch – it costs next to nothing to make pancakes. Instead of spending $3 on an oat bar you can make them for 20¢ to 30¢ each.”
CommSec’s Mr James said eating meals at home bucked a growing trend.
“In the old days it was Cornflakes and Weet-Bix.
“Now there’s an increasing preference for people to get their breakfast on the run – their smashed avocado, toast and coffee,” he said.
“Nowadays meals are more frequently eaten outside the home.
“Back in the 1970s if you went out for a Chinese meal it was because of a special occasion like a birthday.
“Now people go out for a Chinese meal because it’s lunchtime.”