Oh dear, oh dear.

Mop and bucket required in Aisle 3.

It was less than a year ago (October 25, 2023) that Roy Morgan research was announcing Woolworths as “the ultimate winner as the ‘Best of the Best’ Most Trusted Brand for a second consecutive year” in Australia.

Better days.

 

The supermarket behemoth “has consistently rated as the Most Trusted Brand over the last three challenging years since taking the honour from Bunnings”, the research company said.

Well, that all turned pear-shaped (tinned in Aisle 4, fresh in Fruit & Veg, dried in Aisle 7, pastries up the back) rather quickly.

The latest rolling quarterly research from Roy Morgan – to June 2024 – shows Woolworths is now among the most distrusted companies in Australia. As is Coles.

The Top 5 most distrusted companies are Optus (1), Qantas (2), Facebook/Meta (3), Coles (4) and Woolworths (5).

Australians use – but don’t trust – what Mark Zuckerberg is selling.

Could it be that despite all the cheesy ads with farmers and Curtis Stone, and the boasts about the fresh food and the support for growers, people are just over the prices?

Those who shop at Coles and Woolworths (and, let’s be honest, IGA also knows how to slug; and ALDI’s rises don’t go unnoticed) are aware of Covid and wage rises and logistical logjams and shortages, they know all that, but they still sense they’re being diddled when they pay $6.50kg for apples, or $10 for a box of cereal or a $13 for a block of cheese.

“The rapid slide down the rankings for both major supermarkets – which have each slid more than 200 spots in the rankings this year – shows how quickly distrust can gain momentum and devalue a brand’s reputation,” Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said.

 

Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine. Image: Roy Morgan.

“The high trust ratings for Aldi, and independent grocer IGA, show that the distrust for the two majors is not industry-wide, as it is their brands specifically which have become associated with ‘price gouging, high profits and corporate greed’ over the last year whereas as their closest competitors haven’t.” 

Bunnings, Aldi and Kmart were Australia’s three most trusted brands.

It was Bunnings’ third straight quarterly victory, with ALDI (2) and Kmart (3) also unchanged in rankings.

“Filling out the top five are Toyota (4), now just ahead of Apple (5), with these two highly respected brands swapping positions in the June quarter,” Roy Morgan said.

 

 

Several brands increased their rankings during the quarter, led by Bendigo Bank, up two places to 11, and Nike, up six places to 16. It is the first time Nike has been in the Top 20.

IGA was up one spot to 13, ING also up one to 17 and David Jones up one to 18.

The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor surveys approximately 2,000 Australians every month (around 25,000 per year) to “measure levels of trust and distrust of around 1,000 brands across 26 industries”. 

Respondents are asked which brands they trust, and why, and which brands they distrust, and why.