Major changes at Coles for cost of living

The major announcement comes as Australians head into the colder months and are expected to cook more at home, with two thirds of Coles customers saying they are having to cut back on eating out and takeaway.

As a result, Coles is putting a 12-week freeze on key products, including beef and soup mixes.

Products such as beef mince, casserole chuck steak and soup mixes have been reduced as consumers lean more into slow cooking and comforting warm meals.

Coles says it will also be dropping the price of biscuits, such as Raspberry Shortcakes, at a time when more than half of its shoppers are cutting back on purchasing treats.

A 1kg pack of the Coles 3 Star Regular Beef Mince has dropped from $13 to $12, and customers can save 15 per cent on a 500g of Coles Diced Beef, dropped from $13 to $11.

Customers can also save 10 per cent on Coles Beef Casserole Chuck Steak dropped and locked from $20 to $18 per kilogram.

The supermarket will also offer bigger value pack options of 42 items, such as a 2kg tub of Bega Peanut Butter and 1kg bottle of Kewpie mayonnaise.

A survey conducted by the supermarket giant found young singles and couples were struggling the most, while 86 per cent of respondents had been modifying their shopping lists to save extra cash.

More than two thirds of households are worried about rising costs, which jumps to 72 per cent among families.

Coles chief executive Steven Cain said the supermarket wanted to do what it could to stretch budgets further amid rising mortgage payments and energy costs.

The program, “Dropped and Locked 3”, is Coles’ “biggest value investment so far”.

“We know customers are looking for cheaper cuts of meat which is why we have focused on beef mince which is our number one beef line,” Mr Cain said.

“We also continue to see more value conscious shoppers buying our own brand ranges, using Flybuys and redeeming points, as well as more collecting our free MasterChef cookware.”

Coles’ campaign announcement comes a day after the International Monetary Fund’s latest global outlook report forecast the country’s gross domestic product to expand just 1.6 per cent this year.

Despite the “anaemic outlook”, Australian consumer price increases are expected to reduce slightly this year.