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More Australians shoplift groceries amid discontent with ‘rip off’ supermarket chains, food inflation woes
- Food inflation and public furore over potential price gouging by Australia’s supermarket duopoly are pushing more people to shoplift groceries
- Heat on the supermarkets intensified after a report revealed the two chains – Coles and Woolworths – might have been overpricing and had no incentive to cut prices
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Su-Lin Tanin Singapore
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Published: 6:06pm, 9 Feb, 2024
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Sydney resident Don* has been stealing milk, vegetables and the nation’s favourite chocolate biscuits, Tim Tams, from supermarkets over the past three years.
The Australian marketing employee, who used a pseudonym to avoid being identified, says he doesn’t set out with an intention to steal, but when there is an opportunity, he pops things into the recycled shopping bag he carries.
The habit started towards the end of the pandemic, when Australian grocery prices rose sharply, hitting a high of over 9 per cent at the end of 2022 according to data tracked by investment bank UBS. Inflation have since come down to about 4.5 per cent, which still remains above the 2.6 per cent just before the pandemic.
