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Coles, the Australian supermarket chain, quietly raised the price of its paper bags from 25 cents to 30 cents, a 20% increase. This move has upset both customers and employees who argue that the extra cost is unnecessary. Coles attributes the price hike to rising material and transport costs but emphasizes that it aims to keep increases as low as possible. The company's online flat fee for bags remains at $2, though this was also recently increased from $1.50 without prior notice to shoppers.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-12,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Coles, an Australian supermarket chain, recently raised the price of its paper bags from 25 cents to 30 cents, marking a 20% increase. Other shopping bags in their range also saw price hikes; chiller bags went up from $4 to $4.20. This move has upset both customers and Coles employees who feel that it is an unnecessary charge given the already high supermarket costs. A spokesperson for Coles defended the change, citing increases in material and transportation expenses as reasons behind the price adjustment.
Written for “Coles Bag Prices Hike” on 2026-10-12,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning: leans left for article 73097 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-12
Claims extracted
19
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
21%
4 of 19 hedged
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Correction & hedging signals
64.6
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
Shoppers already feeling the pinch of rising supermarket costs have been hit with another blow after Coles quietly increased the price of its paper bags.
asserted
Coles → feel → bags
The supermarket giant has increased the price of its bags from 25 cents to 30 cents, a 20 per cent price hike on an item that used to be free.
The prices of other shopping bags in its range have also increased, including its larger chiller bags, which have risen from $4 to $4.20.
The move has been slammed by disgruntled shoppers and Coles workers alike, with some accusing the retailer of taking 'unnecessary' money.
asserted
some → increase → money
'It’s the $3 to $3.20 price increase that bugs me the most.
asserted
that → ’ → me
Do they not realise how simple it was to say it was three bucks for a bag?'
asserted
it → realise → bag
one Coles worker said.
asserted
worker → say → ?
'Now it’s $3.20 which feels like I’m taking the piss, adding the twenty cents in that.
asserted
I → ’ → that
Another person wrote: 'Why are we even paying for paper bags?
asserted
we → write → bags
Coles has increased the price of its bags from 25 cents to 30 cents - a 20 per cent price hike on an item that used to be free
The supermarket giant quietly increased the price of the paper bag, with a spokesperson telling the Daily Mail it was due to a rise in material and transport costs
Others suggested shoppers should instead bring their own reusable bags 'on principle', noting it wasn't that long ago that bags were provided for free at Australian supermarkets.
uncertain
bags → increase → supermarkets
However, this changed in mid-2018 when Coles and Woolworths phased out free single-use plastic bags, citing environmental concerns, and began charging for them.
asserted
Coles → change → them
A Coles spokesperson told the Daily Mail the price hike was driven by rising material and transport costs.
asserted
hike → tell → costs
'We know value remains important to our customers, and we've worked to keep these increases as low as possible,' the spokesperson said.
asserted
spokesperson → know → increases
'Unfortunately, from time to time, prices of individual products may need to increase due to changes in costs such as materials and transport.
uncertain
prices → need → materials
Customers can continue to bring their own reusable bags when shopping at Coles, and we encourage them to reuse bags wherever possible.
asserted
we → continue → bags
'
Coles' online flat fee for bags remains unchanged at $2.
asserted
fee → remain → 2
However, the fee had already been increased from $1.50 to $2 in May, with shoppers only being notified when they reached the checkout page.
uncertain
they → increase → page
When customers selected their items and clicked the 'checkout' button before the increase came into effect, the message 'we've increased our paper bag fee to $2 for online orders scheduled from Monday 11th May' appeared.
uncertain
we → select → May
The supermarket's paper bag fee remains at $2 regardless of how many bags are required for an order, matching Woolworths' fee.
asserted
bags → remain → fee
READ MORE: Coles to offshore jobs to India in major cost cutting move with hundreds of Aussie staff to be made redundant
-
asserted
hundreds → read → staff
READ MORE: The XXX-rated Coles shelf stacker who has just been sacked for livestreaming her explicit pornshow from the supermarket freezer aisle
asserted
who → read → aisle
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