As airlines, supermarkets and telcos have all attracted consumer ire over the last couple of months for a range of issues spanning deceitful pricing mechanisms and monopolistic practices, market research company Roy Morgan has now identified and awarded the country’s most trusted brands.

This week, Roy Morgan announced the winners of the Trusted Brand Awards for 2024. The top award – ‘Best of the Best’ Most Trusted Brand – went to hardware major Bunnings.

There were a total of 20 companies awarded this year, with 14 of them having built on their wins over the last two years and completed three straight victories as the most Trusted Brands in their respective categories.

Supermarket Aldi – which has a 9 per cent stake in national supermarket retail sales – has been recognised as the winner in the Supermarkets and Convenience Store category.

The research firm pointed out that over the last year, Australia’s two largest supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, which combined control two-thirds of the national supermarket retail market, and have been hit by inquiries and even faced prosecution by the ACCC, have lost their positions as the country’s most trusted brands.

 

Bunnings meanwhile has achieved ‘Best of the Best’ Most Trusted Brand award for the first time. The Wesfarmers-owned brand saw its revenue increase 2.3 per cent to $18.9 billion for the year ended June 30, 2024.

“To counter any potential allegations of ‘greedy corporate behaviour’ one of the most successful policies Bunnings has is their long-running policy on providing the lowest prices with their famous advertising line ‘If you happen to find a cheaper price on a stocked item, we’ll beat it by 10%…. Lowest prices are just the beginning.’,” said Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine.

“This policy has clearly worked – and continues to work – cementing the high levels of trust in the company with Australians saying about Bunnings that ‘They have always been proactive in providing advice and customer service, and that staff are friendly. I have never had a problem when returning products’ and ‘They have a wide range of products all under the one roof with staff that are always willing to help.’ ”

First time winners of the awards include Sydney Water in the Utilities sector, the Australian Red Cross (Charities), BUPA (Private Health Insurance), Aldi (Supermarket and Convenience Stores) and CSL in the new Pharmaceuticals category.