Consumer Goods

A bouquet of flowers is the go-to gift for many special occasions but the world is paying a high price for transporting our out-of-season blooms.

Leading food manufacturers could soon be subject to mandatory health star ratings, more onerous labelling on packaged foods and restrictions on marketing, especially to infants, under a federal government overhaul. 

You may be eating Australian-grown food that has been processed overseas and then shipped back again. Local food manufacturers worry they will struggle to compete with imports among price-conscious consumers. 

Australia has been importing cooking oils from one of the companies implicated in a food safety scandal in China, the Department of Agriculture has confirmed.

Australia's once-booming sandalwood industry appears to be in terminal decline with Quintis and Santanol, Australia's two largest producers, both being sold off.

There are no practical means to collect or recycle vapes, and most end up as electronic waste in landfill. Some are simply thrown on the street as litter. So what's really inside vapes?

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to grow, some NSW residents have turned their attention to second-hand shopping. That move has helped divert 49,000 tonnes of waste from landfill, while allowing residents to pocket millions in savings.

The average Australian family is currently spending more than $100 a week on fuel, but an economist warns government intervention could worsen inflation.

Dairy products, meat and other groceries are set to remain in limited supply across Western Australia for at least another week, as supermarkets struggle to recover after widespread flooding cut off critical transport routes last month.

Doing what we can to stop Australians being overcharged is important, not only for wage earners but also for businesses. And in the banking sector, there's a new idea for how we might do just that — and it's a beauty, writes Peter Martin.

Amid an unabated cost of living crisis, and against the backdrop of price gouging allegations, a shift is taking place — the inner-city supermarket as we once knew it is disappearing.

REDcycle collapsed under its own weight, stockpiling recyclable material with nowhere to go. The new soft plastic recycling scheme will feed new, purpose-built waste processing facilities so it has much better prospects, writes Anya Phelan.

The current row between a Dubai-owned stevedore, DP World, and the Maritime Union of Australia could reignite inflation and cause the Reserve Bank to continue lifting interest rates, experts say. There are calls for federal minister Tony Burke to intervene. 

High egg prices are set to get higher as farmers pay more for feed and infrastructure, but a supermarket manager is confident grocery prices will soon plateau as inflation settles down.

There is no shortage of snakes this summer, or ideas on how to avoid them — especially from so-called experts on social media — but those in the field say one simple action might be the most effective of all.

Several wet years and this month's cooler, spring-type temperatures have been ideal for raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, but as prices drop at the supermarket there's a real fear expenses will overtake profits for growers.

Is an extended warranty worth your money? It's a question being raised in a new class action against retail giant JB Hi-Fi.

Many shoppers are questioning whether supermarket prices are fair, and so next year the Senate will examine claims of price gouging by Coles and Woolworths.

The popularity of real Christmas trees surged during the pandemic and is continuing, but some growers are having trouble keeping up because of bad weather conditions affecting supply.

The product feels lighter, or it's smaller, and you can't quite put your finger on the change… but there is a change. Shrinkflation is becoming more widespread, but can anything be done about it, asks David Taylor.