Coles just announced that it is cutting the price of its store-brand Coles cheese blocks. From today, a 1kg block of Australian Tasty Cheddar, Australian Colby Cheese and Australian Light Tasty Cheddar will cost just $9.50, down from $13.50.
That’s a big saving, and helpful if you power through a lot of supermarket cheese. Apparently we do: Coles says it sells 4 million of these blocks each year. But there is some sneaky fine print to be aware of.
The discount isn’t permanent. The reduced price is scheduled to run for 12 weeks, which means it will end on 22 October 2024. I’ll be checking that week to see if it quietly goes back to $13.50.
It’s Australian-made but not Australian-owned. Coles’ announcement highlights that the cheese comes from Saputo Dairy Australia in Cobram, Victoria. It also notes that it is funding the price reduction itself – that is, it isn’t asking dairy farmers to take a cut in gate prices.
However, what it doesn’t note is that Saputo itself is a Canadian-owned dairy giant. Ultimately, some of those cheese profits are still going offshore.
It’s not likely to be a Coles exclusive for long. Woolworths and Coles engage in fierce price matching. Right now, Woolies still charges $13.50 for the equivalent 1kg block.
However, I’d be surprised if we don’t see that price drop within the next week.
It’s still not the cheapest option. Despite the heavy discounting here, Coles’ bargain in-store brand, Simply, is still the cheapest choice, coming in at $9 for 1kg. (It looks like the price here was cut so that Simply remained the cheapest option.)
The moral of the story? Check the details when you’re shopping around.
For more on supermarket pricing, check out which supermarket house brand products come from the same suppliers.
Main picture: Coles
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