Price watch

Updated 5 April 2026

Coles vs ALDI: which is actually cheaper?

We compared Coles and ALDI prices across 30+ products. Here is where each retailer wins and how much you can save.

The price breakdown: 10 staple items

Here's where the gap shows up. We tracked the same items at both retailers in May 2026:

Product	ALDI Price	Coles Price	Savings at ALDI
Milk (2L full cream)	4.69	6.90	2.21 (32%)
White bread loaf (650-700g)	2.39	2.50	0.11 (4%)
Butter (500g store brand)	6.99	7.00	0.01 (0%)
Pasta (500g store brand)	0.89	0.90	0.01 (1%)
Tinned tomatoes (400g)	0.95	0.95	0 (tied)
Eggs (12pk free range)	6.19	6.20	0.01 (0%)
Beef mince (500g, 2 star)	6.79	13.00	6.21 (48%)
Chicken thighs (1kg, cutlets)	12.99	11.00	-1.99 (Coles wins)
Nescafe Blend 43 (360g jar)	18.49	Not stocked	N/A
Cream cheese block (250g)	2.99	2.85 (on special)	-0.14 (Coles wins)

Where ALDI wins: consistent low prices on basics

ALDI's advantage isn't on every product. It's on the staples you buy week after week. Milk at ALDI is 32% cheaper than Coles (4.69 vs 6.90). Beef mince is 48% cheaper if you buy ALDI's 2-star option (6.79 vs 13.00). That's not a one-time saving. If you buy milk weekly, that's 115 dollars a year. If you buy mince twice a month, that's 150 dollars a year.

ALDI doesn't use price cycling the way Coles does. There's no special week where the price drops and a regular week where it climbs. The price is the price. It's low, and it stays low. That predictability means you never overpay. You never have to guess whether this is the cheap week.

ALDI's own-brand range is also strong. The store brand butter at ALDI and Coles is price-matched at 7 dollars, but ALDI's quality is comparable. Same with pasta, tinned tomatoes, and bread.

Where Coles wins: branded products and specials

Coles is competitive on three fronts. First, if you're buying premium or branded items (like Nescafe coffee or Western Star butter), Coles sometimes stocks options ALDI doesn't. Second, Coles' Flybuys program returns roughly 0.5-1% of your spend as points, which compounds over a year. Third, Coles runs aggressive specials on 5-10 items every week, and some of those specials are genuinely cheap.

In any given week, you might find chicken thighs on special at Coles for less than ALDI's everyday price. Cream cheese on special at Coles (2.85 on sale, down from 5.70) beats ALDI (2.99). But here's the catch: those specials are followed by inflated regular prices the following weeks. You save money this week at the cost of overpaying next week.

Coles also has a wider range, more locations, and online shopping that ALDI doesn't offer in all areas. If convenience matters more than price, that's worth something.

The specials trap: why ALDI's consistency wins over a month

Coles cycles prices every 7-14 days. Beef mince bounces between 11 dollars and 13 dollars depending on whether it's on special. When it's 11 dollars (special), you save versus ALDI's 6.79 everyday price. But that special lasts one week. The other three weeks, you pay 13 dollars and lose the saving.

ALDI's 6.79 price is always there. Over a month of shopping, ALDI comes out ahead even though Coles hits lower prices on specific weeks. The reason: you'd have to know exactly when to buy at Coles and time every purchase perfectly. Most people don't. They shop when they run out.

If you're disciplined about shopping specials and willing to plan meals around what's on sale, Coles can beat ALDI on a few items. But if you shop normally, ALDI's flat pricing wins.

The store brand vs branded comparison

Coles has three store brand tiers: Coles (basic), Coles Finest, and Coles Nature's Kitchen (organic). ALDI is almost entirely its own brand, but the quality is solid. For most staples (butter, milk, bread, pasta, tinned tomatoes), the store brand at ALDI is comparable to Coles' basic range and often cheaper. There's no quality cliff.

For branded products (Nescafe, Western Star, San Remo pasta), Coles stocks more options and sometimes has better specials. If brand loyalty matters to you, Coles gives you more choice. If you're okay with store brand or ALDI brand, ALDI is cheaper.

Split-shop savings: the hybrid approach

Some families split their shop. ALDI for the staples (milk, bread, meat, pantry basics), Coles for branded items and specials. This approach works well because you're leveraging ALDI's everyday low prices on the high-volume items and catching Coles' weekly specials on the stuff you actually need that week. The time cost (two shops instead of one) can offset the saving for some people. For others, it's worth the 5-10 minutes.

If you do this, expect to save 25-45 dollars a week compared to shopping Coles only. Over a year, that's 1,300-2,340 dollars for a typical family.

Flybuys: Coles' loyalty edge

Coles Flybuys returns roughly 0.5-1% of your spend as points on most items. On a 150-dollar shop, that's 75 cents to 1.50 dollars. It compounds. Spend 150 dollars a week for a year, and you rack up 39-78 dollars in points. It's real money, but it doesn't close the 25-45 dollar weekly gap that ALDI's lower prices create.

ALDI doesn't have a loyalty program. There's no points system. But the prices are low enough that you don't need one.

Methodology

• Source: Pinch price tracking database (74,000+ products, 52 weeks of price history)
• Data date: Prices verified May 2026 at ALDI and Coles locations across Australia
• Products selected: 30+ staple items tracked in both retailers, covering milk, meat, produce, pantry, and branded options
• Specials: Coles prices shown at regular price (not weekly specials), ALDI prices shown at everyday price
• Regional variation: Prices vary slightly by location; figures represent typical metro prices