Woolworths is cutting prices on a range of staple goods in a dramatic months-long “winter price drop” set to kick off from Wednesday.
From diced beef and boneless roast pork shoulder to Uncle Toby’s Oats and Twinings English Breakfast tea packs, the retail giant will reduce prices by an average 20 per cent on more than 400 products, with the drop running from May 29 to August 27.
Woolworths chief commercial officer Paul Harker said the products had been selected to help customers retain “grocery essentials” over the winter months.
“We understand the pressures our customers are under and the need to budget for hearty, warming meals and grocery essentials for their families,” he said.
“Our Prices Dropped for Winter program is designed to give our customers certainty on the key products they’ll be buying this season to help their budgets go further.”
The price of corned beef silverside will fall from $10/kg to $8/kg, the product’s lowest price since November 2020, while whole chickens will fall from $5.50 to $4.50, an 18 per cent reduction.
Pork belly roast will move from $19/kg to $16/kg, a 15.7 per cent drop, while beef chunk steak will fall from $17.50/lg to $15kg, a 14.2 per cent fall.
Non-meat essentials are also in line for a price chop.
A 1kg Uncle Tobys Oats pack will fall from $6.50 to $5, while a 500g La Molisana Pastificio pasta will move from $4 to $3.50.
A 20 pack of Vittoria Oro Coffee capsules shifting from $13 to $9, a 30 per cent fall, while a 36 pack of Strepsils anaesthetic lozenges will fall 21 per cent from $19 to $15.
The price drop comes as supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles battle to win customer baskets as families struggle through rolling inflationary pressures.
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci, appearing before the South Australian legislative council last week, said the company would forego potential profits if it was “the right thing” for customers, referencing a decision to lower meat prices in the run up to Christmas last year.
“We will of course make those decisions,” he said.
“We are very sensitive on things like the price of milk, what we would call lunch box items.”
In October, the company lowered the price of its half-leg hams to $8 per kg, its lowest price since 2014, and in November, it dropped the price on 26 lamb products by 20 per cent, with the price drop running from November 8 to December 27.
Both Woolworths and Coles are under pressure to justify their recent profit hauls as a cost-of-living crisis degrades the spending power of most consumers.
In 2023, Woolworths booked a $1.62bn profit, while Coles delivered $1.098bn in profits.
The two rivals, in their submissions to the South Australian inquiry into grocery prices, said the country’s supermarket landscape was “competitive” and price rises in supply chains were a key driver for supermarket price increases.
Mr Banducci defended his company’s results and said the business tried to get “the balance right” between its suppliers, employees, customers and Woolworths shareholders.
“It’s always a balance, we’re not saying we always get it right,” he said.