Aldi, Coles or Woolworths? Getting the best deal for your groceries has never been harder, by Swetha Das.

If you have recently grabbed a pack of Coca-Cola cans at Aldi you may have noticed you’re paying less for eight more cans than you would at Coles or Woolworths. But there’s a catch. The cans are smaller – 12 per cent smaller, in fact. …

Aldi’s case of 18 smaller cans costs $11.29. At Coles, it is $12.30 for a  full-size 10 pack. Aldi’s cans come out at 19 cents per 100ml, compared to 32.8 cents per 100ml at Coles. But Coles and Woolworths sell in packs of 10, 24 and 30  cans of 375ml each  – and you never have to wait long for it to be discounted. This past week Coles was selling 24 packs for $14.10 and Woolworths 30 packs for $20.

Final score: Aldi 19c per 100ml, Woolworths 17.8c and Coles 15.7c.

More confusery-complexity at work. By selling the same thing in different size packs or packets most consumers have to keep their head very screwed on to get a cheaper product. Who has the time to remember “unit pricing” from store to store?

My tactic is just to buy bulk when there is a real discount.

hat-tip Joanne