I though FuelBotch was a shocker but this one may even take the...

I though FuelBotch was a shocker but this one may even take the cake ...

Melbourne Age, Thursday, 7th August

LIKE a Sydney supermarket on Saturday morning, the Federal Government's new grocery prices website attracted a mad rush yesterday. And like many a weekend shopping trip, some left feeling frustrated.

The grocerychoice.gov.au site does not reveal the prices of specific products or specific stores, but compares the cost of different baskets of shopping - such as meat, fruit and vegetables, and dairy - in 61 regions across Australia.

Critics said the regions were so vast that the price lists were no help to shoppers comparing supermarkets or product prices in their local area.

"The outer Sydney south region stretches from Camden to Sutherland - there's going to be massive variation in prices within that region," said the director of the Australian Retailers Association, Richard Evans.

Others said the plan to update the site monthly was flawed.

"The major price fluctuations that occur on a daily and a weekly basis at most supermarkets will be missed," said a University of Western Sydney marketing expert, Daniela Spanjaard.

"And not knowing exactly what products make up each basket means you don't know whether it applies to you."

But the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Competition, Graeme Samuel, said secrecy was essential: "If we tell them 250 grams of Nescafe is on the list, they will drop the price so they look better, but then raise the cost of something else."

The regions had been carefully determined and revealed much about differences between retailers: "You can see that in 52 of 61 regions, Coles is cheaper, and that the independent outlets are uncompetitive across most of the regions. If I was an executive at one of those retailers, I would be thinking, 'How long can we survive with a reputation as the most expensive outlet?' I would consider changing my pricing practices."