Mastodawn

Recently, I've been trying to find ways to avoid the Colesworths supermarket duopoly as much as possible.

I'm pulling together a cheat sheet of alternatives. If you have any suggestions you can recommend, please leave them as a comment.

Some will be more expensive (IGA and Foodworks), but others (like grocery clearance stores and Aldi) less so. Hopefully it balances out.

It's also important to note there's likely to be far more alternatives if you're in Melbourne or Sydney than a remote or rural area.

The starting point is to stop thinking in terms of a one-stop shop.

Even if you're in a very Colesworth dependent town, even shifting some of your grocery shopping to a local bakery or green grocer is a win.

The starting point: Shopping local. If there's a local bakery, green grocer, deli, butcher, etc., then support them.

A good tip on this front is discount chemists often stock toiletries and household cleaning products at prices comparable to Colesworths.

If it's available: Grocery clearance stores (even if it's just once a week).

* Beyond Best Before in Sydney: https://beyondbestbefore.com.au/
*NQR in Melbourne and Adelaide: https://nqr.com.au/
* Factory Food Sales Melbourne and Geelong: https://foodfactorysales.com.au/
* Savemore Melbourne: https://www.savemore.net.au/
* Discount Grocery Store Albury–Wodonga: https://discountgrocerywarehouse.com.au/
* Cheaper Buy Miles Melbourne:
https://www.cheaperbuymiles.com/

Next: Is there a farmers market in your area?
* https://farmersmarkets.org.au/find-a-market/

If not, there's some services offering direct produce from farmers:
* https://farmerspick.com.au/
* Happy to hear more recommendations

The obvious one is Aldi, although it doesn't stock everything.

And then IGA or Foodworks. It is more expensive, but it's more of a backfill for things you can't get elsewhere.

Even if there's no local IGA in your area, many stores offer free delivery for orders over $100: https://www.igashop.com.au/delivery

For our babies, we're tending to bulk order from Pet Circle. It works out cheaper often, even with delivery fees: https://www.petcircle.com.au/

If you're vegan in Sydney, The Cruelty Free Shop (formerly in Glebe, now moving to the CBD) is great but pricey, and there's a few others around the country: https://australia.veganonthemap.com/vegan/shops

Any other suggestions or things I've missed?

#auspol #australia #Colesworths #Coles #Woolworths #Melbourne #Sydney #Adelaide #food

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Beyond Best Before

WearyBonnie Oct 31

@aj
It's not really the same thing but places like Yarn'n or Who Gives A Crap can take some things off the grocery list, like toilet paper, soap, shampoo etc. Delivery fees can be really high though :(

AJ Sadauskas Oct 31

@3TomatoesShort Hey, a few things off the list is a win 😊

Although you're right: With delivery fees, it often needs to be a bulk order to be worthwhile.

Looking for explanations…Oct 31

I was shopping at The Source for a while, partly to reduce food packaging, but it’s expensive. When I was a kid, my folks had a health & bulk store, but such stores can’t compete with supermarkets nowadays.

Local Asian supermarkets are often worth a visit & are usuallly much cheaper on herbs & spices, especially Indian stores.

I’m buying my tea direct from Nerada & honey from Beechworth honey, about once a year.

And we use Farmer’s pick.

ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘Oct 31

@aj In Adelaide, check out Gaganis Bros Warehouse: not just cheaper foods but also kitchen needs, cleaning stuff like laundry detergent, small hardware items - you'll need an hour just to browse on your first visit.

Bunnings has cleaning chemicals. Some are good, cheaper alternatives to supermarket lines and they also have some familiar brands in bulk size. Pet foods in bulk bags too.

Chemist Warehouse has personal care stuff like toothpaste, shampoo, tissues, bandaids etc and some "green" cleaning chemicals at low prices.

Adelaide Central Market, especially the northern end, for fresh food.

@aj yes the Asian grocers often sell Australian grown dry goods in export packaging (chickpeas etc).

The source seems to be the cheapest place for grains etc, Honest to Goodness beats them on a lot of other stuff like nuts.

There is a CSA map here https://www.csanetworkausnz.org/directory.html
We get out vegies delivered to the door from the one farm, I get excited every week, they're just so good!

Box divvy seems popular, but I'm afraid its just a convenience rather than particularly local, organic or sustainably grown effort.

CSA Map and Directory

New South Wales Purple Pear Farm Hunter Valley, 2320 www.purplepearfarm.com.au @PurplePearFarm Harvest Farms Bilpin, 2758 www.harvestfarms.com.au @harvesthampershawkesbury Providence Hill...

CSA NETWORK AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND

@aj Speaking of green grocers, I've found that my local grocers offer higher quality produce than Colesworths (well, I stopped comparing once I switched over completely to green grocer only for produce). Less of fruits that taste like flavoured bags of water.

AJ Sadauskas Nov 1

@crouton Oh definitely.

The prices are roughly the same for fruit and veg, but there's a *massive* difference in flavour and quality.

Coles and Woolies are flavourless by comparison.

Yellow Readis Nov 1

@aj for us, local grocers and butchers. Asian grocers usually do way bigger sizes for spices, lots of sauces cheaper, and an interesting array of sweets and desserts. Chinese, Korean and Japanese grocers are great for flour, noodles and sauces, Indian grocers are usually the best place for bulk spices. Most usually also have more rice-based gf options too. We get our liquid soap from Skipper, which does disolvable tablets, and bulk buy every 6 months. Aldi is great. Chemist Warehouse is a good option for toiletries. QV markets in Melbourne CBD are a wonderful way to get excellent cheap produce, and there is usually a farmers market somewhere nearby almost every weekend for more unusual items or ultra fresh fruit & veg if you live in the Melbourne burbs.

@aj A suggestion around expanding shopping local - if you have to travel to work, there may also be shops local to your workplace, and can work that into your schedule.
In Melbourne that's an asian grocery in the CBD (TANG). I pick up some things there since I'm already there for work. No additional car trips needed.

Jude🇵🇸Nov 1

@aj Farmers' markets. Ordering online from local providers (eg meat). Reduce processed foods, cook more from scratch.

Petherfile Nov 1

@aj for anyone near Box Hill or Springvale in Victoria there are masses of fruit, veggie and butchers all together at both locations. Well worth a 15 minute drive (or maybe even more), everything is so cheap. There must be other places like this...

Dandenong market and Queen Vic market are great too.

Joanna Holman Nov 1

@petherfile @aj on the north side of Melbourne there’s less big fresh produce markets but the Cheaper Buy Miles stores are frequently incredible for cheap dairy, frozen foods, snacks and condiments

AJ Sadauskas Nov 1

@joannaholman @petherfile Many years ago, I usdd to live near Box Hill. Definite big tick for the fruit and veg shops at Box Hill Central, and the many grocery importers around there.

In the eastern suburbs, MAXI Foods in Ferntree Gully is s big independent that stocks lots of products you can't get elsewhere. They're especially good with vegetarian: https://www.lemaxgroup.com.au/upper-ferntree-gully

They used to also be a MAXI foods in Blackburn North, and the same family owned Leo's Fine Foods in Heidelberg and Glen Iris. Unfortunately, those all seem to have fallen to Colesworths 😏

Best Buy Miles sounds amazing. I remember reading your post a while ago about it 😊

A couple of others that I remember used to be good in northern Melbourne (although it's been a while) and might still be worth checking out?

Thd Friends of the Earth food co-op in Collingwood: https://www.foefood.org/

And also the Preston Markets.

Upper Ferntree Gully - Le Max Group Supermarkets

Upper Ferntree Gully

Julien Goodwin Nov 1

@aj @joannaholman @petherfile I miss the Prahran market from back when I was a kid, but the last time I went there it was a little disappointing

AJ Sadauskas Nov 2

@LapTop006 @joannaholman @petherfile Sad, but sadly not surprising, about Prahran Market.

I remember Preston, South Melbourne, Queen Vic, Camberwell, Dandenong, and Footscray markets used to be good, although I'm not sure about now?

Julien Goodwin Nov 2

@aj @joannaholman @petherfile happened to go to Dandenong a year or two ago and it's still great, the queen vic back 15 years ago when I worked nearby was still decent, but did seem to be on a slow downward slide

Petherfile Nov 1

@aj @joannaholman
Leo's Glen Iris is still there but only for another month. Will be coles soon.

AJ Sadauskas Nov 1

@petherfile @joannaholman Shameful.

The fact that Coles and Woolies can still buy independent supermarkets shows what an absolute joke competition laws are in this country.

Rowena Ball Nov 2

@aj @petherfile @joannaholman

Supabarn hold its own in Canberra. There are three big Supabarns, and innumerable small suburban ones, SupaExpress, which were taken over from various IGA and Spar and other franchises.

Of course, that is barely a tiny local nick in the giant ColesWorths duopoly.

LovesTha🥧Nov 2

@aj @petherfile @joannaholman worse is them owning small shopping centers. Check out how few of the ones out in the new suburbs out west have any fresh food that isn't colesworth