Coles (28 October 2021) and Woolworths (27 October 2021) will release 1Q22e sales next week. We forecast Coles to deliver 0.9% comparable sales growth in Supermarkets, with Woolworths at 3.3%. The gap will have opened in Woolworths favour given lockdowns favoured online sales and Coles had availability challenges given disruptions from COVID-19 in its DCs. We expect these issues are likely to unwind and the growth gap will narrow considerably beyond 1Q22e.

The feedback from companies experiencing cost pressures is growing. The spike seen in both soft commodity prices and transport costs has persisted for longer and will lead to higher supermarket inflation in our view. The only remaining question is when, and by how much? We expect some evidence to show through in August-September 2021 given supplier feedback. Packaged grocery inflation is likely to be 1.5-2.0pp higher by early calendar 2022. Inflation is generally positive for supermarket retailers sales and earnings.