Statement from a Coles spokesperson:

“Despite a 12-month inquiry into supermarkets, neither the Government or the ACCC found evidence of price gouging. What's needed are measures that tackle the real factors driving higher grocery prices, which are rising costs such as energy, fuel, labour, insurance, production, freight and distribution.”

Statement from a Woolworths Group spokesperson:

"We note today’s election commitment by Labor on supermarket pricing.

"Woolworths provided thousands of documents, millions of data points to the ACCC and several senior executives participated in public hearings as part of a 12-month-long inquiry into the supermarket sector.

"We were able to explain how economy-wide inflation was impacting our suppliers and our business and how we are always working to deliver value to our customers.

"Following this year-long inquiry into supermarkets, the final report found no evidence of price gouging.

"We fully understand that customers want us to make it easier to find value, especially as they remain under immense cost of living pressure.

"We recognise our customers have experienced several years of significant inflation, with an escalation in the cost of mortgages, rent, transport, insurance, energy, food and many other household essentials.

"Year-on-year prices in our Australian Food business have now declined for four consecutive quarters, as noted at our F25 Half Year Financial Result.

"We play an important role in the lives of millions of Australians, more than 200,000 team members, and our suppliers.

"As we said following the release of the ACCC report, where no evidence of price gouging was found, we have already taken action on many of the report’s recommendations to improve the experience and transparency for customers and suppliers."