https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-14/coles-accc-federal-court-judgment/1066738...










3h ago

A close up of a red sign with Coles spelt out in white letters.
The consumer watchdog said the supermarket giant misled shoppers with some items on its "Down Down" promotion.  (ABC News: Billy Cooper)

In short:
The Federal Court found the majority of the pricing tickets submitted to the court were not offering genuine discounts and would have misled an ordinary consumer.

It found the supermarket giant did not sell the products at the higher price for long enough before putting them on the "Down Down" promotion.

What's next?
The judge will also rule on a similar case against Woolworths at a later date.

Supermarket giant Coles broke consumer law by misleading shoppers on discount prices, a Federal Court judge has found.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued Coles, alleging it misled shoppers with fake discounts on hundreds of common household items under its prominent "Down Down" promotional campaign.

Judge Michael O'Bryan handed down his judgment in Melbourne this morning, finding that in 13 of the 14 pricing tickets submitted to the court, the discount was not genuine, and would have misled an ordinary customer.

The judge found Coles did not sell products at a higher price for at least 12 weeks before discounting them.

"I have concluded that 13 of the 14 'Down Down' tickets … were misleading because the relevant products were not sold at the 'was' price stated on the ticket for a reasonable period and as a consequence the discount represented on the tickets was not genuine," Justice O'Bryan said.

"Coles engaged in conduct in trade or commerce that was misleading."


The ACCC took the supermarket giant to court over the prices it charged on 245 common household items, including paper towels, dog food and yoghurt, under its prominent "Down Down" promotion between February 2022 and May 2023.

The consumer watchdog claimed the supermarket giant misled shoppers by jacking up the price of an item for a short time, before putting it on a discount.

Bobby. wrote on May 14^th, 2026 at 1:28pm:


That's their business model.

Bobby. wrote on May 14^th, 2026 at 1:35pm:


Yep, they'll do whatever it takes.

It's capitalism, Bobby.

The whole idea is to rip-off/exploit consumers and workers.

On another note -

you've got to be careful when buying food.
Almost every isle at Coles or Woolies has food full of:
salt, sugar, bad fats and dangerous chemicals.
Their fresh food is very expensive.
Obesity and diabetes are at plague proportions -
people are literally dying from unhealthy food choices.

tallowood wrote on May 14^th, 2026 at 3:27pm:



Did he have fresh apples?

All supermarket apples are old - even if they cost $4.90 per kilo.
They are put in cold nitrogen storage and kept for up to
9 months before selling at premium prices.
They put new apples in cold storage so they are unavailable.

Bobby. wrote on May 14^th, 2026 at 3:42pm:


No, there were only local fruit and vegetable, apples don't grow well here, but citrus, grape, kiwi and avocado do well.

The price is the price. It is clearly stated. Only a moron bases their purchasing decision on how much they "save" rather than how much they pay.

freediver wrote on May 14^th, 2026 at 5:20pm:


Indeed.

How much they pay, and how much they actually need the item.

"I saved $20 on a chocolate fondue set"