The IGA prices are so jacked up bro 😖
Comment on Are you a Coles patriot. Or are you a Woolies nationalist?
Salvo@aussie.zone 5 days ago
None of the above (unless absolutely necessary)
I can get almost everything I need from Aldi and IGA.
khortits@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 days ago
Salvo@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Yes they are; Because they small businesses, which actually pay their employees a living wage and don’t have the buying power of the big supermarkets.
Even then, all the IGA locals around me and larger IGAs on surrounding towns are still cheaper than Safeway and Coles.
ms_lane@lemmy.world 3 days ago
which actually pay their employees a living wage
This isn’t my experience with Foodland or IGA - they generally only employ teenagers so they can pay them the under 18 rates.
Salvo@aussie.zone 1 day ago
We must be going to different stores on different days.
All the Local IGAs in my area employ single mums and more mature staff members. The only young employees I see are family members of the owners.
The big IGA in a nearby town employs the same demographics of staff members; they even have a professional Butcher on staff (and they have excellent value cuts of meat) (I used to deliver for a butcher when I was younger and have seen some dodgy butchers and some overpriced dodgy butchers and some excellent butchers.)
khortits@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 days ago
idk how much they pay their workers but I suspect that since iga is the distributor, they get most of the cut. I’m not faithful to any chain anyways, the post is mostly a joke
eatham@aussie.zone 5 days ago
IGA isn’t a small business, and I’ve no clue if they pay a decent wage, but $10 for a dozen eggs is insanely expensive and reason enough not to shop their. Aldi is amazing tho, and I agree Coles is quite expensive, not sure if it is more than IGA tho as they are generally 5-10x woolies prices (which are already very high)
Gorgritch_umie_killa@aussie.zone 4 days ago
The IGA shops are small businesses, there might be a few owners who are large enough, with multiple stores to call themselves medium size, but the vast majority are owner-operators.
The large conglomerate your referring to is called Metcash, they’re the primary wholesaler to IGAs but also wholesale to other shops. They also own the IGA brand in Australia at least, i don’t know if theres a North American connection with the IGA brand up there.
I wouldn’t assume they pay a better wage, thats almost certainly a store owners decision, which means it’ll vary store by store. Maybe Metcash might give ‘guidance’ but they don’t have direct control like Coles, Woolies, Aldi, Costco.
So, when you buy IGA more of the profits are remaining local with the owners of that store.
If i remember right Metcash’ assets are through product sales and brand ownership. This is also why Metcash will likely never be able to conpete properly with Coles, Woolies, Aldi, and Costco because all of those companies have the land and buildings their stores are situated on positively affecting their borrowing capacity, Metcash doesn’t have that therefore fundraising for expansion, or technology upgrades is more difficult.
That extra layer of (internal but not internal) wholesaler sales i believe is the reason why IGAs are slightly more expensive. But even then it depends on the type of IGA we’re talking about, there are some really fancy ones and some not so fancy ones.
I suppose everything i just wrote is based off knowledge over 10 years old now, but i think its largely still true.
Taleya@aussie.zone 4 days ago
IGA isn’t a block. The clue is in the name
Nath@aussie.zone 5 days ago
Safeway! There’s a name I haven’t heard in about 10 years. Are there still any Safeways that haven’t turned into Woolies out there?
Salvo@aussie.zone 4 days ago
Sorry. I am old and they will always be “Safeway” to me. I know that they are called Woolworths, but I can’t get that name into my head.
TugOfWarCrimes@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
If you’re far enough outside of the cities (or willing to drive) you can also often buy direct from farms, cutting out the middlemen that all demand their own cut. And don’t forget places like NQR and The Reject Shop for non-perishables.
I would also urge people to find their local community garden and/or food bank. If you need the support, there is no shame at all in accepting it from your community. If you don’t currently need the support, offer to do what you can to help those that do need it. The more we can help each other, the less we need corporations like Coles and Woolworths.
Deceptichum@quokk.au 5 days ago
Farms sell Indomie Mi Goreng?
TugOfWarCrimes@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
If you’re really insistent on purchasing only from farms, I suppose you could purchase all the ingredients and make it from scratch yourself. But that would likely take more travel costs than it saves. Probably better to just go to Aldi for that one