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Supermarket prices 12pc higher than at grocers, survey finds

Colleen Lee

Consumers have been warned to be wary about shopping at supermarkets after a survey found prices for a range of basic items cost an average of almost 12 per cent more in the big chains than in grocery stores.

Buyers should not be misled by supermarket ads for big discounts, because the same goods could often be found at nearby stores for less, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, which conducted the survey, said.

Consumer Council spokesman Kenneth So Wai-sang said the council planned to carry out more surveys on food prices this year in view of high inflation, and advised shoppers to compare prices more often.

From March 11 to March 13, the DAB compared prices of 10 items in a supermarket and a store in each of the city's 18 districts. In each district, the small store was within 800 metres of the supermarket, the DAB said.

'Many supermarkets advertise they offer big savings, but it may be misleading as not all items on sale are cheaper than those in small stores nearby,' lawmaker Chan Kam-lam said.

In the most extreme case, an 800 gram package of Quaker Instant Oatmeal was on average 20 per cent more expensive in supermarkets than in small stores. Ten rolls of Vinda Premium Tissue Roll also cost 20 per cent more in supermarkets.

The survey found some items were priced differently in different outlets of the supermarket chain. The Quaker Instant Oatmeal cost HK$23.90 in the ParknShop outlets surveyed in the Eastern, Southern and Sha Tin districts, but HK$25.90 in an outlet in the Central and Western district and HK$28.90 in an outlet in Kowloon City.

Ten rolls of Vinda Premium Tissue Roll was HK$28.90 in ParknShop outlets in Eastern, Kowloon City and Sha Tin, HK$29.90 in a Central and Western outlet, HK$24.90 in a Southern outlet and HK$29 in Sai Kung.

A ParknShop spokeswoman said generally there should be no price difference across outlets. But some new or recently renovated outlets might offer special discounts on some items for a period. She said that after checking prices of the items for the period concerned in all outlets, all items were priced the same.

A Wellcome spokeswoman also said the chain set the same price for the same item in different outlets.

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