The price of convenience: DIY lunchbox snacks could save Aussie parents over $700 each year

Monday 25 January 2016

Article by Kelly Emmerton

Convenience comes at a steep cost with Aussie parents paying hugely marked-up prices for pre-packed lunchbox snacks, Mozo’s recent research has shown.

Aussies are paying up to $716 more per child for convenient, pre-packed snacks then they would if they were to purchase larger packs of the same product and portion out snacks at home. Based on the unit price of each item over a 196 day school year, multipack lunchbox fillers were unfailingly over double the price of larger quantity products.

Mozo Director Kirsty Lamont said Aussie parents could avoid this price premium by “putting a small amount of effort into portioning out lunchbox snacks, rather than reaching for the multipacks.”

“Some of the most surprising mark-ups offered very little advantage in terms of convenience – for example, parents prepared to slip a few sultanas into a snap lock bag will avoid the 227% increase for Sunbeam’s Mini Snack Packs, which contain the exact same product,” she said. That’s a saving of $53 per year.

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The biggest difference - an incredible 589% mark-up - was between DIY sliced cheese and crackers and Munchables cheese and crackers multipacks. Parents stand to save $312 over the school year by swearing off this pre-packaged convenience.

Other products with remarkable mark-ups included:

• Coles Squeezie Vanilla Yoghurt Pouch (217% or $108 more expensive than a 1kg container of the same product)

• SPC Aussie Diced Peaches in Mango Nectar Snack Pack (149% or $149 more expensive than an 825g tin)

• Just Juice 100% Apple Juice Box (140% or $94 more expensive than 3L of the same product)

“We know that parents feel the pinch at the start of the school year, forking out for uniforms and books, but the good news is a little lunchbox effort can save a lot of money,” Lamont said.

Switching to DIY snacks and looking for somewhere to park all those incredible savings? Check out Mozo’s list of high interest savings accounts to get more bang for your buck.