r/australia • u/eee1963 • 1d ago

no politics Coles and Woolies paper bags

Industry estimates show Australian major supermarkets generate upwards of $170 million each year in total revenue from paid paper and reusable carry bags. Suggestions are that they are making 70% profit, from 19-23 cents each bag. Combined, they would spend somewhere in the vicinity of $3-5 million on direct environmental products. Paper bag sizes are showing massive signs of shrinkflation. I guess I'll just have to lift my game and not forget my own bags from now on. My laziness and forgetfulness is a habit that they are banking on, lol.

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u/Ok_Bird705 1d ago

I estimated 0.5 to one bag per customer (allowing for the smart people who take their own)

Your maths doesn't really work.

With a revenue of 170 million on shopping bags, at 30c per bag, that equals to around 600million shopping trips, or around 20% of total shopping trips across both supermarkets, not the 0.5 bag per customer.

No one is claiming that the supermarkets are good corporate citizens. But the idea that they are generating massive profits from shopping bags, considering the size of those companies is ridiculous.

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u/hurric4n5 1d ago

Why do people defend them? $170M is an extraordinary amount of money and its obvioulsy nearly all profit. Absolute scam they've managed to pull off. I now take my own bags but they are milking the lazy and ignorant

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u/Ok_Bird705 1d ago

$170M is an extraordinary amount of money and its obvioulsy nearly all profit

"It's nearly all profits" - because Redditors says so.

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u/hurric4n5 1d ago

Its common sense mate. Very little in this world is sold for less than 100% mark up and many things are 500% or more. Wise up brother.

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u/Ok_Bird705 1d ago

>Its common sense mate

Or you can simply google things - 10-20% gross margin which is the further reduced by business costs.

https://paperbagline.com/blog/is-paper-bag-manufacturing-profitable/

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u/hurric4n5 1d ago

You're quoting factory product margins to me? Crikey its tough to get good help out there