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Best supermarket brands in Australia 2021

Friendly Grocer is the best rated supermarket in Australia.

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Ericka Pingol
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The best rated supermarket brands in Australia

How did we chose the winners?

The 2020/21 Finder Retail Awards recognise brand sentiment from customer feedback on different retail product categories. Finder worked with leading data, insights and consulting company, Kantar, to conduct thousands of customer interviews around their product purchasing history and satisfaction with their purchased products.

Check out our full methodology.

Best overall: Friendly Grocer

Friendly Grocer logo

  • Over 200 stores in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria
  • Has weekly offers across various food and grocery categories
  • Offers a wide selection of products, including fresh produce and household essentials

For the best overall supermarket brand, Aussies have chosen Friendly Grocer, scoring 4.5/5. It beat Costco, Woolworths and Coles, which have scores of 4.28/5, 4.22/5 and 4.21/5, respectively.

Friendly Grocer offers a wide range of products, including fresh produce, frozen goods and household essentials. Its weekly specials also vary, depending on the store location.

Formerly known as Four Square, Friendly Grocer first opened its doors to consumers over 60 years ago. It was founded in New Zealand in the 1920s and expanded to Australia in 1956. The Friendly Grocer brand was introduced in 2006.

Best for value for money: ALDI

ALDI

  • Sources ingredients from Aussie farmers, producers and manufacturers
  • Wide range of products including fresh produce, frozen meals and tissue papers
  • Known for affordable prices across groceries and household goods

For value for money, consumers picked ALDI as the best supermarket brand with a score of 4.38/5. The other runners-up were Costco, Friendly Grocer and Foodland, with scores of 4.32/5, 3.92/5 and 3.92/5 respectively.

Established in 1941, ALDI is a discount supermarket chain brand with over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. It opened its doors to Aussies in 2001. According to the company, ALDI brand products are not tested on animals. It also recycles 96% of the packaging used in stores.

ALDI offers a wide array of products, including frozen meals, plant-based milk, dairy products and coffee grounds.

Best for customer service: Friendly Grocer

Friendly Grocer logo

  • Small supermarket
  • Sponsors events in local communities
  • Has an in-house kitchen for meals

Aussies selected Friendly Grocer as the best supermarket brand when it comes to customer service, scoring 4.46/5. It beat Coles, which has a score of 4.26/5. Foodland and FoodWorks also came in tied in third with ratings of 4.16/5.

According to the company, many of the brand's stores sponsor events for their local communities. Despite being a small supermarket chain, Friendly Grocer prides itself on bringing customers the best possible deals on products.

Friendly Grocer has an in-house takeaway kitchen that provides customers with tasty meals at affordable prices.

Best range of produce: Woolworths

Woolworths

  • Over 900 stores across Australia
  • Has a mobile app for easier online grocery shopping
  • Sources most of the brand's fresh fruit and veggies from Aussie farmers and growers

For the range of produce, consumers chose Woolworths as the best supermarket brand. It has a score of 4.29/5. The other runners-up were Costco with a score of 4.24/5, Coles with a score of 4.23/5 and Friendly Grocer with a score of 4.0/5.

Woolies has over 900 stores across Australia. The brand also works closely with Aussie farmers and growers to give customers the best products available in the market. According to the company, it sources 96% of its fresh fruit and veggies and 100% of its fresh meat from Australia.

In addition to offering a wide range of exclusive grocery brands, Woolies offers both in-store and online shopping through its Woolworths app. The brand also offers weekly specials and discounts as well as Everyday Rewards, which you can redeem when you shop.

Best produce quality: Friendly Grocer

Friendly Grocer logo

  • Stores are owned and managed by locals
  • Weekly specials may vary from store to store
  • Offers meals for takeaway

Aussies picked Friendly Grocer as the best supermarket brand in terms of produce quality with a score of 4.35/5. Other brands that scored highly were Costco with a rating of 4.32/5, Coles with a rating of 4.15/5 and Foodland with a rating of 4.12/5.

This supermarket brand has more than 200 stores in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria. According to the company, all of its stores are owned, run and managed by local people.

Apart from household and pantry essentials, Friendly Grocer offers baked goods, takeaway meals and liquors. It also sells IGA home-branded groceries in all of its stores across Australia.

Most recommended: Friendly Grocer

Friendly Grocer logo

  • Offers IGA home-branded groceries
  • Has an in-store bakery
  • Part of the Metcash network

Friendly Grocer is also the most recommended supermarket brand by consumers, scoring 5/5. It beat Costco, ALDI and Woolworths, which have scores of 4.8/5, 4.7/5 and 4.51/5, respectively

Friendly Grocer is part of the Metcash network, one of Australia's leading wholesale distribution and marketing companies. According to the company, the brand also operates as a non-profit.

Apart from an in-house takeaway kitchen, this supermarket brand has an in-house bakery offering a wide range of goods, from fresh breads to pastries. Local stores also buy products from across Australia and sell them to customers at the best price possible, which means store offerings may vary from day to day.

Methodology

The 2020/21 Finder Retail Awards recognise brand sentiment from customer feedback on different retail product categories. Finder worked with leading data, insights and consulting company, Kantar, to conduct thousands of customer interviews around their product purchasing history and satisfaction with their purchased products.

Disclaimer: Please refer to our methodology for more information on how we scored and judged Finder Retail Awards candidates. While we endeavour to assess the majority of product providers in the market, this is not always possible and it may be that not every brand in the market was included for judging.

Online vs in-person grocery shopping

According to a Finder survey with over a thousand respondents, 21% of Aussies started grocery shopping online during the pandemic. A further 14% also said they have been shopping online for groceries since before COVID-19, which means that a total of 35% of Australians now buy their groceries online.

Apart from being convenient, shopping for groceries online can save you time and money. You can either have your goods delivered right at your doorsteps or pick them up at your preferred store when they're ready. This means you're less likely to risk items you need being sold out or adding extra items you don't need to your cart on impulse.

Online shopping for groceries also gives you more time to look for virtual coupons, calculate your grocery expenses and review your purchases before checkout. You can also catch some online exclusive deals which can help you save more money on groceries.

However, if you tend to be pickier about your groceries, especially when it comes to fresh produce, in-person grocery shopping may be better. According to our survey, nearly 2 in 3 people (63%) continue to shop in stores, virus or not. With in-store shopping, you can pick the cut of your meat or check the fruit and veggies before checkout – things you can't do when shopping for groceries online.

Also, if you're in a rush and need specific items for a recipe you're cooking that day, it's easier and cheaper to pop into your local supermarket instead of paying for same-day grocery delivery.

Where do Aussies shop for groceries?

Many supermarket brands in the country offer both online and in-store grocery shopping. But according to a Finder survey, Aussies primarily shop at Woolies, whether it's virtually or in-store. It tops our list with 45% of respondents saying they prefer Woolworths, "The Fresh Food People", for their regular grocery shopping. Woolies is particularly popular in the Sunshine State with more than half (52%) of respondents there choosing the brand.

According to the survey, Coles is Australia's second favourite option, with 35% of respondents preferring the place where "good things are happening".

Best rated supermarket brand award breakdown

Total Score Overall rating Value for Money Customer Service Range of products Produce quality
Friendly Grocer 8.12 4.5 3.92 4.46 4 4.35
Costco 7.94 4.28 4.32 4.26 4.24 4.32
Coles 7.68 4.21 3.85 4.09 4.23 4.15
Woolworths 7.66 4.22 3.82 3.98 4.29 4.08
Foodland 7.64 4.12 3.92 4.16 4.22 4.12
ALDI 7.5 4.11 4.38 3.45 3.92 3.96
FoodWorks 7.22 3.9 3.58 4.16 3.76 4.02
IGA 7.02 3.83 3.38 3.9 3.73 3.85
Other 7.87 4.27 4.14 4.24 4.16 4.16
Data: Finder Retail Brand Survey, 2020, Kantar. Metric out of 5 stars unless indicated. Methodology and more info. Kantar logo

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