Food
MAY 2017
F o re w o rd
Whether it be transport, housing, entertainment or communication, the cost of living is at the forefront
of everyone’s mind. This report is part of a monthly series that aims to compare the prices of everyday
essentials in Queensland.
RACQ has commissioned this research from Deloitte Access Economics. As Queensland’s peak
motoring body, RACQ will use the data to advocate for its 1.6 million members. This may involve
questioning discrepancies in cost or celebrating fair prices.
This month’s series focusses on food, drawing upon the arising themes in today’s culture of being
time poor, increased diversity within our food scenes, and the rise of consumer choice.
RACQ hopes to better educate Queenslanders through this research, allowing families to recognise
where they must allocate funds. The research will be made publically available on RACQ’s website so
that Queenslanders can access the information most relevant to them and their every day expenses.
Contents
Our Healthy Habits
4
Your Weekly Grocery Shop
5
Supermarket Showdown
6
Dining Out
7
Coffee Index
9
The Rise of Convenience
10
Our Healthy Habits
It is s afe to say that food is as much a part of our
Queens land culture as being laid back and surfing.
Throwing a shrimp on the barbie has become one of
our mos t iconic s tereotypes, after Paul Hogan from
Crocodile Dundee s tarred in a s eries of television
advertisements for the Aus tralian Tourism
Commission.
From our tropical mangoes and pineapples to our
elaborate brunches, it’s hard to deny we love our
food and it is deeply ingrained into our culture.
The past decade has also shown a kick in the rise of
Queenslanders becoming more health conscious.
The Woolworths trolley trends revealed that consumers are spending longer reading nutrition labels and
buying health food products such as sugar free, additive free and organic. Sugar- free products are the
most common ‘health food’ to be in Australian trolleys, being purchased by 51 per cent of shoppers
(Quantium, 2016).
In this report we consider the cos t of food as a part of our lifestyle in Q ueensland. We investigate the cos t
of your weekly grocery s hop, the rising competition between supermarkets, our dining out habits, how
much our beloved coffee is burning a whole in our pockets and the rise of ready meals.
MAIN INGREDIENTS AVOIDED BY AUSTRALIAN CONSUMERS
65%
60%
55%
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
Food | Cost of living
4
Your Weekly Grocery Shop
Be it breakfas t cereals, your pantry s taples or
something special for this week end’s dinner
party, how much is your week ly shop coming to,
and what is it being spent on?
Queens land households s pend jus t under $200
weekly on food and non-alcoholic beverages,
the third least across Aus tralia after South
Australia and Tasmania (ABS). Purchasing of
meat has decreased 16 percentage points from
1984, however chicken has increas ed by 9
(Quantium, 2013). Other foods that have seen
increased demand are pasta, noodles and rice
making up 61 per cent of side dis h purchases,
replacing the potato which dropped from 72 per
cent to 39 per cent.
Data from the Queens land Gov ernment Statistician’s Office ( 2015) showed that dis tances from city
hubs can have ex traordinary effects on prices, with Queensland food expenditure varying by as much
as 45.4 per cent around the average. Charleville came in as the most expensive regional centre, 27. 3
per cent above Brisbane, and Rockhampton the cheapest at 18.1 percent below Brisbane.
INDEX OF FOOD AND NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
(Brisbane = 100)
Brisbane
Cairns
Charleville
Gladstone
Gold Coast
Maryborough
Rockhampton
Roma
Sunshine Coast
Toowoomba
Townsville
80
90
Source: Queensland Government Statistician’s Office, 2015
100
110
120
130
Food | Cost of living
5
Supermarket Showdown
Queens land’s grocery sector is heavily
dominated by Woolworths and Coles,
however has noted a gradual increase
in discount supermark et entrants, s uch
as Aldi. Across Australia, $32.6 billion
was spent at Woolworths in 2016 ,
comprising 36.3 per cent of total
supermarket expenditure (Roy Morgan,
2016). While Woolworths remains the
largest in the market, it is the second
consecutive year in which they
experienced a decline in market share,
with Coles and Aldi splitting the gains.
The increas ing competition in the
grocery sector reflects Queens lander’s
demand for consumer choice. When it
comes to their groceries, Aus tralians
are becoming more promotion loyal,
than brand loyal. Data releas ed by
Fairfax Media ( 2017) shows that one
third of all grocery items were bought
on a discount of 10% or more.
Aside from the cost of your weekly
shop, how else do the main players
stack up?
Other 8.1
IGA 9.8
Woolworths 36%
Aldi 12.5
Coles 33.8
Market Share
Source: Roy Morgan Research, 2016
STATE WIDE AVAILABILITY
Within Queensland, Woolworths operates the most amount of s tores at just over 230, approximately 20%
of their nation wide total. Aldi brings up the rear with less than half, of which only 2 are located outside of
South-East Queensland. In comparison to Coles and Woolworths, the lack of presence into the rest of
Queens land can mak e it difficult for all Queens landers to access the savings on offer. However, they hav e
signalled plans to expand.
ONLINE SHOPPING & DELIVERY
Woolworths and Coles both offer online shopping and delivery, however tak e different s trategies when it
comes to the price. In Queensland, Aldi delivery is not yet available, being limited to Melbourne and
Sydney. Woolworths bas es it on the amount of your order, cos ting as much as $11 for orders less than
$149.99 and free over the price of $300. Coles on the other hand does it based upon demand. High peak
times of the day will set you back $13, whereas low peak can cost as little as $8.
Food | Cost of living
6
Dining Out
The 2011 Census (ABS) revealed that since 1984,
Queens land’s appetite for eating out has grown
considerably. In 2009-10, the av erage weekly
household spend on dining out was $66.19, a 55
per cent rise in real terms since 1984. Further, it
is als o taking up a larger proportion of our total
food spend, sitting at 30.8 per cent compared
to 21.6 per cent in 1984.
Recently, Intermedia ( 2016) revealed this trend
has continued, with the average Queensland
household spending $100 per week eating out.
Further, they reported that the average
Australian was eating out 2 or 3 times per
week. Aligning with our increased diversity and
a health conscious mind set, ‘healthy eating’
restaurants showed the largest increase in
popularity at 14.7 per cent, followed by seafood
restaurants at 8.8 per cent. International
cuisines such as Mediterranean and Oriental
also increas ed. Fast food establis hments, such
as KFC, McDonald’s, Hungry Jacks and Domino’s
pizza, showed the greatest decline, all falling
between 15 and 20 per cent.
QUEENSLAND HOUSEHOLD WEEKLY SPENDING ON EATING OUT
$70.00
35.00%
$60.00
30.00%
$50.00
25.00%
$40.00
20.00%
$30.00
15.00%
$20.00
10.00%
$10.00
5.00%
$0.00
0.00%
1984
1988-89
1993-94
Amount spent eating out
1998-99
2003-04
2009-10
Share of total food spend
Source: ABS, 2011
Food | Cost of living
7
Dining Out
Queensland’s restaurant industry rose 3.4 per cent in 2016 , just behind the national average of 4.4 per
cent (Dimmi, 2016). Some of the key trends found in the 2016 Dining Index are as follows:
DECREASED FRIDAY DINING BUT INCREASED SUNDAY DINING
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
FY2014
10.00%
FY2016
5.00%
0.00%
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Source: Dimmi, 2016
LARGEST INCREASE IN PREMIUM RESTAURANT SPENDING
6.00%
5.00%
4.00%
3.00%
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
Low (<$55 per head)
Mid ($55-$110 per head) Premium (>$55 per head)
Source: Dimmi, 2016
%
47
Source: Dimmi, 2016
Queensland was the state with the most
amount of solo diners, with 60 per cent
of them being males.
Food | Cost of living
8
Coffee Index
In a society where we continue to work
longer hours, and commit to more things
than we necessarily have time for, the
popularity of caffeine fuelled beverages
continue to rise.
In Queens land, and similar to the rest of
Australia, our favourite coffee is a latte,
making up approx imately a third of all
coffees s old (Square, 2015). However, it was
also found that across Queensland, lattes
were one of the most expensive beverages
to purchase, with a small cup costing $4.07
next to flat whites, cappuccinos, espressos
and long blacks all coming in under $4. In
comparison to other states, Queensland is
the second most expensive state after the
Northern Territory, with New South Wales
coming in the cheapes t at an av erage of
$3.50 for a small.
Interestingly, ABS data sugges ts that the 51-70 years age group is the mos t avid coffee consumer at
65.5 per cent, compared to those aged 19-30 at 34.3 per cent. Coffee consumers are also becoming
increasingly demanding, with a Nespress o study revealing that 87 per cent of Australians admit to
giving specific instructions to the barista. Des pite Australians maintaining their idea of being a coffeecentral culture to the point of being ‘coffee snobs’, 75 per cent of Australia’s annual coffee
consumption remains in the form of instant coffee (Euromonitor, 2013).
AVERAGE PRICE OF A SMALL CUP OF COFFEE
$4.10
$4.00
$3.90
$3.80
$3.70
$3.60
$3.50
$3.40
$3.30
$3.20
ACT
NSW
NT
QLD
SA
TAS
VIC
WA
National Average
Source: Square (2015)
Food | Cost of living
9
The Rise of Convenience
We live in a time where we value convenience ov er money, particularly in Queensland where the
average number of workers putting in more than 40 hours of work per week is greater than the
national average (ABS, 2017). Ready meals have also become a convenient alternative for people trying
to manage healthier lives, by adhering to meal plans where all that is required of them is to submit
their order. There is an ever increas ing amount of new companies that have come to prepare an deliver
ready made meals to your home or work.
PEOPLE WHO ATE A READY MADE MEAL IN THE PAST 7 DAYS
Watching their weight
2013/14
No time to spend cooking
2009/10
Total
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
Source: Roy Morgan Research, 2015
The two new guys on the block that have gained a lot29%
of publicity for their ready made meals in the past
74%
45% even if it’s
18 months are YouFoodz and Thr1ve. So, if you’ve decided to make the switch to ready mealsjust lunch or dinners to get through the working week, what is there to take into consideration?
YouFoodz
Thr1ve
$9.95
$9.95-$12.95
Cost of meal plans
$125-$198 which include 2 meals and
a snack
$160-$170 which include 2 meals
(option for 3)
Variety of meal plans
Choice of 11 meals plans – wide range
of dietary specifications
No build your own option
Choice of 3 meal plans but limited
dietary options with a build your
own option
Delivery
Order 2 days in advance (limited QLD
areas)
Have to order 3 days in advance
(limited QLD areas)
IGA, Foodworks and NightOwls
Woolworths
Individual meals
Stockists
Source: Individual service provider websites, 2017
Considering that Queensland hous eholds spend an estimated $200 per week, these services aren’t
necessarily a cost saving in itself, however, the timeliness and hassle-free nature of it may be
attractive to you.
Food | Cost of living
10
Limitation of our work
General use restriction
This report is prepared for the use of RACQ. This report is not intended to and should not be used or relied upon
by anyone else and we accept no duty of care to any other person or entity. The report has been prepared for
the purpose of estimating the cost of living Queensland. You should not refer to or use our name or the advice
for any other purpose.
Food | Cost of living
11
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