Coles has quietly pushed up the price of its reusable shopping bags, just months after posting a profit of $1.09 billion for the financial year, and shoppers are not happy about the timing.
The supermarket’s folded paper bags have risen from 25c to 30c each, an increase of 20%. Its larger insulated chiller bags have gone from $4 to $4.20.
For older Australians doing a weekly shop, it is a small sum on any single visit, but one more line item creeping upward at a checkout already loaded with rising grocery bills.
Coles said the change came down to the cost of supplying the bags in the first place.
“We recently made some changes to the price of selected bags. We know value remains important to our customers and we’ve worked to keep these increases as low as possible,” a Coles spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, from time to time, prices of individual products may need to increase due to changes in costs such as materials and transport.”
The spokesperson added that shoppers could still bring their own bags to avoid the charge altogether, and encouraged customers to reuse bags wherever possible.
Coles confirmed the flat bag fee on online orders will stay at $2, so those who shop for home delivery will not feel this particular rise.
In-store shoppers have been less forgiving, taking to social media to vent about the change.
“I popped into Coles today on the way home from an appointment and didn’t have a bag with me. When did the brown paper bags that you have to carry from the bottom so the handles don’t break, go from 25 cents to 30 cents?” one shopper wrote.
Another pointed to a time many Over60 readers will remember well. “Back in the 70s and 80s brown paper bags were used in all supermarkets – and they were free.”
It is a fair point, and one that lands harder given the supermarket giant’s result in August. A profit above a billion dollars sits awkwardly next to a nickel rise on a paper bag, however small the sum looks on its own.
For now, the simplest way to dodge the increase remains the oldest trick in the book: tuck a couple of your own bags in the car, and let Coles keep its paper ones on the shelf.
