Exclusive: Comparison of online ‘per each’ price of 15 fruits and vegetables against price per kilogram found ‘completely arbitrary’ price variations Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Supermarkets are increasingly charging customers for fresh produce by the item, rather than by weight, in a strategy that is leading to “wild volatility” in pricing with some items more than 50% more expensive, new analysis shows. A Sydney-based data analyst who compared the “per each” price online with the actual “per kilo” shelf price of 15 fruits and vegetables at their local Woolworths store found the price variations were “completely arbitrary”. Continue reading...
SRCThe Guardian - World News
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Left
WORDS107
ENT3
FRI · 2026-01-23 · 14:00 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0123-10011
NSR-2026-0123-10011News Report·EN·Economic Impact
The capsicum paradox: new Australian supermarket pricing a ‘massive transparency fail’ for customers
A new analysis reveals that Australian supermarkets are increasingly pricing fresh produce "per item" rather than by weight, leading to significant price discrepancies. A Sydney-based data analyst compared the "per each" online price of 15 fruits and vegetables at Woolworths with their "per kilo" shelf price.
Catie McLeod Consumer affairs reporterThe Guardian - World NewsFiled 2026-01-23 · 14:00 GMTLean · Center-LeftRead · 1 min
The Guardian - World NewsFIG 01
Reading time
1min
Word count
107words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
3entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01
Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
A new analysis reveals that Australian supermarkets are increasingly pricing fresh produce "per item" rather than by weight, leading to significant price discrepancies. A Sydney-based data analyst compared the "per each" online price of 15 fruits and vegetables at Woolworths with their "per kilo" shelf price. The analysis found "completely arbitrary" price variations, with some items costing over 50% more when purchased individually. This pricing strategy is being described as a "massive transparency fail" for customers, creating "wild volatility" in the cost of fresh produce. The study highlights a potential shift in supermarket pricing practices that could impact consumer spending.
Confidence 0.85Sources 1Claims 4Entities 3
§ 02
Article analysis
Model · rule-basedFraming
Economic Impact
Human Interest
Tone
Mixed Tone
AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.60 / 1.00
Mixed
LowHigh
Sources cited
1
Limited
FewMany
§ 03
Key claims
4 extracted01
Supermarkets are increasingly charging customers for fresh produce by the item, rather than by weight.
factualnull
Confidence
0.90
02
Some items are more than 50% more expensive.
statisticnull
Confidence
0.80
03
Price variations were “completely arbitrary”.
quoteSydney-based data analyst
Confidence
0.70
04
Pricing strategy is leading to “wild volatility” in pricing.
factualnull
Confidence
0.70
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Full report
1 min read · 107 words§ 05
Entities
3 identifiedKey playerOppositionContext
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Keywords & salience
8 termssupermarket pricing
0.90
fresh produce
0.80
price variations
0.70
price per kilogram
0.60
price per item
0.60
fruits and vegetables
0.50
transparency fail
0.50
data analysis
0.40
§ 07
Topic connections
Interactive graph Network visualization showing 5 related topics
View Full Graph Person Organization Location Event|Click node to navigate|Edge numbers = shared articles