COLES Supermarkets Australia has been found by the Federal Court to have made false or misleading representations about ‘Down Down’ discounts on products.

The proceedings brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission related to 245 common products sold by Coles, including pet food products containing beef and lamb.

The ACCC alleged that Coles temporarily increased the price of each product by at least 15 percent for a relatively short period of time, before placing it on a ‘Down Down’ promotion at a price that was still higher than, or the same as, the price it had previously sold for before the price increase.

The ACCC alleged that the discounts were illusory and that the representations were false or misleading, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

The hearing involved an agreed list of sample products from the total of 245. The court found that Coles made misleading representations in 13 of the 14 ‘Down Down’ tickets that were considered in the liability hearing.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the commission welcomed the Court’s finding that Coles breached the Australian Consumer Law.

“The ACCC brought this case in the public interest because we considered that Coles’ pricing practices within its ‘Down Down’ program made it harder for customers to identify genuine value for money while shopping for household essentials.”

“We had received complaints by consumers about the ‘Down Down’ discounting claims made by Coles,” she said.

“We understand how important it is for consumers to get value for their supermarket purchases, and decided to take action to test the discounting practices in Court,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

“This case has increased transparency and accountability in relation to Coles’ Down Down program.”

The  court will determine penalties and other orders sought by the ACCC at a later date.

The ACCC instituted proceedings against Coles in September 2024, alleging that Coles made false or misleading representations to consumers about the prices of 245 products between February 2022 and May 2023.

These products include Arnott’s Shapes biscuits, Band-Aids, Bega cheese, Cadbury chocolates, Coca Cola soft drink, Colgate toothpaste, Danone yoghurt, Dettol multi-purpose wipes, Fab laundry liquid, Karicare formula, Kellogg’s snack bars, Kleenex tissues, Libra tampons, Lurpak butter, Maggi two-minute noodles, Nature’s Gift dog food, Nescafe instant coffee, Palmolive shampoo, Rexona deodorant, Sakata rice crackers, Sanitarium Weet-Bix cereal, Strepsils lozenges, Sunrice rice, Tena pads, Viva paper towels, Whiskas cat food, and Zafarelli pasta.

The liability hearing involved an agreed list of 12 sample products from the total of 245. Two of these products were placed on the Down Down program twice.

Coles is the second-largest supermarket chain in Australia, operating more than 840 stores nationally.

Coles introduced the ‘Down Down’ Program in June 2010 and marketed it as a promotional campaign designed to reduce the regular shelf price of commonly purchased products – which offered customers predictable and reliable value on the items they purchased the most, reducing the cost of their shopping basket.

The ACCC has also commenced separate proceedings in the Federal Court against Woolworths Group Limited. The Federal Court has reserved its judgment in that matter.