Sydney grocery shopping: which supermarket to use, and when

How the market is structured

Two chains take most of Australia's grocery spend, and that is the single fact behind Sydney shelf prices. The ACCC supermarkets inquiry final report, delivered in February 2025, put Woolworths at 38% of supermarket grocery sales nationally, Coles at 29%, ALDI at 9% and Metcash — the wholesaler behind IGA — at 7%. The report called this "an oligopolistic market structure in which Coles and Woolworths have limited incentive to compete vigorously with each other on price."

The practical consequence is that the sticker price is unstable rather than simply high. The same inquiry found that more than half of products bought at Coles and Woolworths are on some form of promotion — specials, multi-buys, longer-term discounting or everyday low pricing.

Because the majors discount so heavily and so often, a price you saw last week tells you little. Treat each shop as a different tool rather than hunting for one cheap supermarket.

Which shop for what

Each Sydney grocery format solves a different problem, and using the wrong one is where visitors lose money. This table compares what each type is genuinely good at against what you give up.

Coles and Woolworths are the default because they carry everything and their own-brand lines sit below the branded equivalents on the same shelf. If you are cooking one or two meals in an apartment, a single trip there is usually the fastest answer even if it is not the cheapest.

ALDI works on a deliberately shorter range, largely its own brands, which is why a basket of staples lands lower. It describes its Special Buys as limited runs released twice a week — treat those as a curiosity, not a plan, since they sell out and are not restocked. Bring a coin or a bag habit: ALDI expects you to pack your own.

IGA is a convenience network, not a discounter. Its more than 1,200 shops are independently owned businesses, so range and price are set locally, which is exactly why an IGA two minutes from your accommodation can be worth the premium at 8pm and a poor choice for a weekly shop.

A small store carrying the same logo is also not the same shop. Woolworths Metro is a compact neighbourhood and CBD format built around ready meals, lunch items and single-dinner ingredients rather than a full grocery range, and other chains run comparable small-store banners in the city centre. They look like supermarkets and stock smaller packs, and a 250g pack in a CBD express store can carry a far higher price per kilogram than the 1kg pack in a full supermarket a few blocks away.

If you are staying in the CBD, Surry Hills, Pyrmont or Darlinghurst, find the nearest full-size supermarket once and do your main shop there, then use the small format only for top-ups.

Unit pricing and specials cycles

Unit pricing is the one habit that reliably saves a visitor money in Australia. The ACCC states that most supermarkets, large grocery stores and online grocery stores must display unit prices in store, online and in advertising, and that those unit prices must be prominent, close to the selling price, legible and unambiguous.

That means the small print showing "per 100g" or "per litre" is not marketing — it is a legal requirement, and it lets you compare a house brand against a branded product, or a big pack against a small one, in about two seconds.

Specials rotate weekly at the majors, with catalogues published online each week. For a stay of a few days, chasing a cycle is not worth your time; for a stay of two weeks or more in self-catering accommodation, checking the current catalogue before your main shop is a reasonable five minutes.

Loyalty cards on a short trip

Loyalty programmes in Australian grocery are real but slow, and a visitor rarely spends enough to reach a payout. Woolworths runs Everyday Rewards, which collects at least one point per dollar and converts 2,000 points into $10 off a future shop or 1,000 Qantas points. Coles is a half owner of flybuys, which Coles Group reports has nine million active members.

Signing up is free and can be done in-app, and the more useful part for a short trip is member pricing on individual items rather than the points balance itself. Where a shelf tag shows a lower "member" price, scanning a card you set up on arrival captures it immediately.

• Join before your main shop if at all, not at the checkout with a queue behind you.
• Treat points as irrelevant on a trip under two weeks; the redemption threshold is a long way off.
• Watch for member-only shelf prices, which apply instantly rather than accruing.
• Both programmes are linked to a phone and an app, so expect to need working mobile data.
• Neither programme is required to shop, and ALDI's pricing model does not depend on one.

Buying alcohol in New South Wales

Alcohol is not sold on New South Wales supermarket shelves, and this surprises visitors from Europe and North America. Under section 30 of the Liquor Act 2007, where the primary business of the premises is not selling liquor, liquor may only be sold in a liquor sales area "adequately separated" from the rest of the shop.

In practice you walk into a separate bottle shop — often the one attached to or beside the supermarket, sometimes owned by the same group. Coles Group alone operates more than 900 liquor stores nationally under its Liquorland and Coles Liquor banners.

This matters for your food budget because some Sydney restaurants are BYO — you bring your own wine and pay a corkage fee per bottle or per person. Buying the bottle at a bottle shop beforehand is usually far cheaper than a restaurant list, but BYO status and corkage vary by venue and are only reliable from the restaurant itself.

Markets and neighbourhood grocers

Sydney's public markets are worth a trip for specific things, not for a general shop. Paddy's Markets at Haymarket, next to Chinatown and walkable from Central and Town Hall stations, trades Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm and mixes fresh produce and seafood with clothing, souvenirs and food stalls.

Sydney Fish Market is open daily from 7am to 10pm, with individual retailers keeping their own hours inside that window. Go for seafood you will cook that day or eat on site; it is not a place to save money on everyday groceries.

Independent Asian and Middle Eastern grocers are the part of the market the duopoly figures do not describe, and they are concentrated around Haymarket in the city and in the suburban centres west and south-west of it. They typically price produce, rice, noodles, pulses, spices and sauces on their own terms rather than following the majors — which is a reason to check, not an assumption, so run the same unit-price comparison you would in a supermarket.

Trading hours and closed days

Sydney supermarket hours are long, and New South Wales does not cap them on ordinary days. Large supermarkets in and near the CBD commonly trade late into the evening and a few trade around the clock, but the only reliable source is the individual store's page in the chain's store locator, since hours differ store by store.

The exception is a short list of restricted days. The Retail Trading Act 2008 requires shops to be kept closed on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, subject to exemptions in the Act that let some smaller shops open.

If your trip crosses Easter, Anzac Day in late April, or the days around Christmas, buy what you need the day before. This is also the point where self-catering pays for itself: eating out in Sydney is expensive relative to cooking, and the days you cannot rely on a restaurant being open are the days a stocked kitchen matters most.

Before your first shop

Look up one full-size supermarket and one bottle shop near your accommodation before you land, and note their actual hours from the chain's store locator rather than a map listing. That single check answers most of what this guide covers.

Then do one main shop at ALDI or a full-size Coles or Woolworths, and keep the small express formats for genuine top-ups. Prices, promotions and store hours change constantly, so confirm anything that decides your plan on the retailer's own page on the day.