Australians are outraged after discovering Vegemite is cheaper in the UK than it is in Coles and Woolworths.
On shelves at Tesco in the UK, customers can grab a 220g jar of Vegemite for £2.20 ($4.25 AUD) while at Coles the same product costs $5.
Meanwhile Woolworths is selling a slightly larger jar (280g) of Vegemite for $6.20.
In Australia the salty spread is beloved nationwide and has been a favourite among households since 1923. It’s also the ‘Aussie version’ of the British classic Marmite.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Bega, the company that owns Vegemite, for a comment. Woolworths and Coles declined to comment on the price difference between the two markets.
The price difference was quickly picked up by shoppers and left thousands furious.
‘I’m gonna be pretty upset if this is true. Is Vegemite cheaper in a small town in Scotland than from Coles and Woolies in Australia? Let’s find out,’ one wrote.
To his surprise, there was a 77c price difference. ‘What is going on?’ he said.
On shelves at Tesco in the UK, customers can grab a 220g jar of Vegemite for £2.20 ($4.25 AUD)
However at Coles the same product costs $5 (pictured)
‘It’s cheaper to have Vegemite delivered to my door by Amazon than it is to buy it at Coles or Woolworths. Wild,’ one commented.
‘It’s cheaper to go to a servo and buy it,’ another added.
‘This is outrageous!’ a third said.
However, others argued the price difference is due to ‘supply and demand’ while some pointed out how wages are lower in the UK compared to Australia.
It’s understood a number of key factors come into play when comparing two markets. For instance, GST on food, wages, and the general cost of doing business and taxes differs in Australia and the UK.
One customer posted a video and said: ‘I’m gonna be pretty upset if this is true. Is Vegemite cheaper in a small town in Scotland than from Coles and Woolies in Australia? Let’s find out.’ To his surprise, there was a 77c price difference (stock image)
It comes after Coles and Woolworths were accused of ‘sneaky’ price practices.
The grocery giants are headed to court after the consumer watchdog launched legal action against them for allegedly breaking consumer law with misleading discount pricing claims.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the duopoly would briefly jack up product prices by around 15 per cent, before dropping them to below the peak but above the initial price.
That illusion of a discount plays into a human bias to process information as quickly and easily as possible, according to Deakin University consumer behaviour expert Paul Harrison.
‘There is really strong research that people do bypass detail when they see something is discounted … it serves as a shortcut and a way for a person to say, ‘I don’t need to process detailed information about it’,’ he told AAP.
‘You could say it’s a form of manipulation … we trust these institutions to tell us the truth and if it says it’s a discount, we assume it actually is.’
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