Is Countdown’s The Odd Bunch produce cheaper?

The savings guarantee comes after last week’s “Great Price for Winter” price freeze promotion fell flat for consumers, only including three varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The Odd Bunch savings appear to be good value, but is it cheaper than other supermarkets? We compared the price per kilogram of The Odd Bunch produce with the same or similar products’ prices from The Warehouse and Foodstuffs-owned Pak’nSave and New World.

Prices compared

The results

Produce from The Odd Bunch is pre-packaged, so we’ve done our best to compare it with pre-packaged produce elsewhere. We’ve simplified the costs to reflect the price per kg but note that you can only buy pre-set quantities in some instances.

Countdown’s The Odd Bunch tends to be cheaper per kilogram, if not the cheapest, compared with the price per kilogram of similar products from select Pak’nSave and New World stores, as well as The Warehouse.

For example, a kilogram of potatoes from The Odd Bunch cost $2.00, but similar potatoes cost $3.20/kg at The Warehouse, $3.33/kg at Pak’nSave, and $3.66/kg at New World.

The only exception was Brussels sprouts, which cost $12/kg from The Odd Bunch, $9.98 at Pak’nSave and $11.99 at New World.

However, we only compared the prices from each supermarket in one location. While The Warehouse standardises its prices across the country, Pak’nSave and New World vary pricing from store to store. Your local supermarket might sell a kilogram of carrots for even cheaper.

Unlike the winter price freeze, The Odd Bunch prices are reactive, so they will likely remain a good deal. They will stay at least 20% cheaper than other fresh fruit and veges on the same shelf, meaning if the other apples decrease in price, The Odd Bunch apples will too.

Based on our sample, buying The Odd Bunch might save you more on fresh fruit and vegetables than other supermarkets. How long this stays true depends on if Foodstuffs introduce more competitive pricing in response to Countdown’s guarantee.

What’s The Odd Bunch?

Countdown owns the pre-packaged fresh produce brand The Odd Bunch. It says it “works with local growers, taking imperfect produce that would usually be thrown away, and selling it at reduced prices.”

Because it owns the brand, it can keep a higher profit and can increase its market power over other suppliers. We've recently seen this play out with Countdown's own brand dominating its winter price freeze.

Indeed, in its media release, Countdown said the produce brand makes “up to 20% of sales in some categories, like apples, capsicums and carrots. In the last financial year alone, Countdown customers purchased over nine million bags of Odd Bunch produce.”

The Odd Bunch line currently includes:

• Apples
• Carrots
• Capsicum
• Potatoes
• Green beans
• Onions
• Mandarins
• Courgette
• Pears
• Kumara
• Lemons
• Brussels sprouts

As with any product, the price and availability of The Odd Bunch produce varies seasonally, and stock also varies from store to store.