New hot roast chicken prices at Coles and Woolworths are an “incredible” win for shoppers, according to a poultry industry figure – but people buying free range roast chooks are helping the supermarkets make up the shortfall.

Last week, Australia’s biggest supermarket chain permanently dropped its family hot roast chicken price from $11 to a dirt-cheap $8, while Woolworths cut its family-sized chickens to $7.90.

A representative for Australian chicken processors confirmed to The New Daily the consumer price drop was not passed on to processors or producers, and instead had been absorbed by the supermarkets.

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Therefore, despite the price dip, Coles and Woolworths were still paying processors the same cost price for their family roast chickens as they were when sold for $11.

This meant that at $8, Coles now only made $1.22 per family chicken, according to leaked pricing information.

A Coles insider revealed to The New Daily the cost prices that Coles paid for its hot roast chickens, however a spokesperson for Coles refused to confirm that:

• An $8 family hot roast chicken cost Coles $6.78 each, from processor Baiada

• A $13 free range roast chicken cost Coles $7.13 each, from Lilydale Chickens

• A $13 hot roast beef cost Coles $7.60 each

The insider said that they didn’t think the promotion had led to a surge in roast chicken sales yet given the item was already extremely popular among customers.

The insider also revealed that the price of shredded roast chicken sold in the deli department would not decrease. Deli shredded roast chicken was made from the hot roast chicken leftovers during the day, they said.

Free range mark-up big

Coles paid only 35 cents more to processors for free range roast chickens than family roast chickens. However, Coles sold free range roast chickens to shoppers for $5 more than they did family roast chickens.

Woolworths also dropped the prices of its family roast chickens. Photo: AAP

It meant shoppers handed Coles more than 4.8 times the mark-up value when buying free range, even though it cost the supermarket less than 50 cents more to buy.

The New Daily approached free range roast chicken supplier Lilydale Chicken for comment on this discrepancy but it did not respond.

A spokesperson for Coles told The New Daily: “Coles hot roast chickens are still the same great chickens our customers have always enjoyed.” 

The Coles insider suggested the family chickens they received since the price drop “seemed smaller” than before, but this had not been confirmed or verified by Coles or its processors.

The New Daily approached Woolworths for more information on its hot roast chicken prices but it did not respond in time for publication.

Processors, farmers won’t suffer

The peak body for Australia’s chicken processors hoped Coles and Woolworths would not pass on the dramatic price cuts to its hot roast chickens in the future, but also said it was a win for the consumer. 

An in-store advertisement for Coles’ ‘every day’ chicken price.

Australian Chicken Meat Federation executive director Vivian Kite told The New Daily that passing on a cost cut would possibly compromise the quality and profitability of the processors’ work.

“Obviously we trust that these aren’t going to be forced back [price cuts for consumers] onto chicken processors,” Ms Kite said.

“We are hopeful that there won’t be any pushback of prices onto processors.

“We are hoping that doesn’t happen.”

She said that the price cut was driven solely by Coles and stressed it had not resulted in any price cut measures for processors. 

“Even before these prices, chicken was the most affordable and best value meat in Australia,” Ms Kite said. 

“So it being offered at these incredible prices is a bonus for consumers.”

A spokesperson from the Australian Chicken Growers Council – representing chicken farmers and producers – told The New Daily that price drops from supermarkets or processors rarely, if ever, affected the price producers got for selling chickens to processors.

The spokesperson said those prices are pre-negotiated and contracted between processors and producers.