Coles prices: Australian supermarket hikes the price of bottled water, a grocery staple, in cost-of-living hit

Coles has the price increased of its own brand, 24 packs of 600 ml water bottles from $8 to $9.50, an increase of more than 18 percent for Australian shoppers.

The change has been confirmed by the supermarket giantwith a spokesperson telling nine.com.au: “We know the cost of living is a priority for many Australians, and we work hard to keep prices as low as possible for our customers.

“While we may occasionally have to adjust prices, we remain committed to providing great value through everyday low prices, weekly deals, Flybuys rewards and Australia’s largest range of own-brand merchandise.

“It is important to note that the price of Coles water 24 x 600ml is cheaper than the same period last year when it cost $9.90.”

I’ve been keeping an eye on a possible change in the price of Coles’ own brand water for Supermarket Sleuths since December 2025, when I noticed some changes to the core range.

The best-selling 24-packs of 600ml water bottles are at the end of the aisle in most Coles locations.

The first change I noticed was that the product was no longer available for purchase on the Coles website, and subsequently I could no longer find it in my area.

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Due to the lack of availability of the 24-packs, customers only had the option to purchase two 12-packs of 600 ml water bottles.

Availability and prices continued to fluctuate.

The supermarket’s suggested retail price for a pack of 12 600ml bottles of water at the time was $5.50, which works out to $11 for a total of 24 bottles.

They then dropped the prices from $5.50 each to $5.35 each, meaning customers then paid $10.70 for 24 bottles of Coles own brand water.

Various specials followed between December and March, with prices fluctuating enormously.

Stocks seemed to improve at the start of the year, with 24-packs briefly reappearing at $8.

Coles’ new increased price for their 24-pack of 600ml own-brand bottled water was revealed in early April and is officially $9.50.

The timing of this couldn’t be worse for Australian shoppers.

Gavin Northey, associate professor in Griffith University’s Department of Marketing, has taken a closer look at the situation, including Coles’ price and availability changes in December.

He described the situation as ‘complex’

“Coles hasn’t just increased the price of a single product, so it’s a little more complex,” he told nine.com.au.

“In reality, Coles had initially priced the 24-pack at $8, which is 33 cents each.

“But they took it off the shelves and the only offering was the 12-pack for $5.50, which is about 46 cents each. That’s actually $11 for 24 bottles.

“But even though the ‘per unit’ price is more expensive for the 12-pack, consumers would have seen the price, thought it was lower than they remembered and, without the 24-pack next to it as a reference, would have thought it was a bargain.

“This is partly because consumers are notoriously bad at calculating unit prices, especially in a busy supermarket, where most consumers are distracted and in a hurry to get out.”

He said Coles’ choice to remove the 24-pack and temporarily replace it with the 12-pack for $5.50 is a “fairly common reference price manipulation strategy”.

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‘We know that people situate their knowledge based on specific ‘anchors’in this case the $8 for a pack of 24,” he continued.

“But removing the 24-pack as an option introduces what is known as ‘coherent randomness’meaning consumers are now at the mercy of whatever contextual cues they receive.

“In this case, that’s a lower total price of $5.50, despite the 12-pack having a higher unit price.”

“So yes, this is definitely a form of conditioning. By doing this, Coles has eliminated any direct price comparison, which essentially resets consumer expectations around size, setting a new ‘per unit’ price anchor of $11 for 24 bottles.

“So now that Coles is putting the 24-pack back on the shelves for $9, it can effectively be positioned as a ‘value-for-money’ offer, and to many consumers it will definitely look like a bargain.”

Aussies have become avid ‘cross-shoppers’, shopping at multiple retailers to pay the lowest possible prices.

Aldi is selling its 24 packs of 600ml water bottles for $7.49, and Costco is offering 30 packs of 600ml Kirkland water bottles for $8.99.

At the time of publication, Woolworths’ own brand, 24 packs of 600ml water bottles, remains priced at $8.

However, Woolworths and Coles are known to “match” both price increases and discounts on key grocery items such as these.

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