Baffling Woolies price tag fail sparks confusion

No one who has put school behind them wants to sit and ponder over a maths problem, but members of an online Facebook group have been left banging their calculators and rattling their abacuses’ today after a Woolies price tag caused uproar.

The dilemma kicked off when a mum, innocuously going about her shopping, spotted what seemed to be a huge error on the price listing for cups of jelly.

Image of Woolworths jelly cups $2.20 four pack for $18.33 per kilo
This innocent-seeming. Raspberry Jelly 4 Pack from Woolworths has kicked off a debate of mathematical proportions. Photo: Facebook

Pausing to pick up the four-pack of raspberry jelly, the shopper was struck by the per kilo price, which was listed at $18.33.

Now, while most have never had occasion to purchase one kilo of jelly, anyone who had would surely baulk at forking out just under $20 for a kilo of what is essentially sugar and water, and the price point of the four-pack seemed to reflect that.

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The item was on sale for $2.20, at 120 grams.

Facebook attempts to solve Woolies maths dilemma

Sure there was an error, the mum took to Facebook to query whether the price was misquoted, given that in her reckoning each cup weighed 120 grams, meaning the product weighed almost half a kilo at 480 grams.

Close image with circle of $18.33 price per kilo Woolworths Jelly 4-pack
Something about this price tag seemed a little off. Photo: Facebook

“I’m no great shakes at maths,” the humble shopper captioned a snap of the bizarre price tag. “But four in the packet at 120g each equals 480g in the packet for $2.20.”

“That’s hardly $18.33 per kg.”

Not so, other shoppers argued, convinced that the mum was mistaken and that, in fact, the entire product came to a total weight of 120kg.

“Lol what?” one rather sarcastic respondent wrote. “The 120 grams is the overall package weight.”

“Sorry to [disappoint] you, but Woolworths is correct - 120g is the total weight of the package, each jelly is 30g,” another wrote convincingly.

The truth revealed

Jelly cup on kitchen scales weighs 130grams in $18 per kilo drama
Ultimately the scales revealed the truth. Photo: Facebook

Justice, however, prevailed when the mum decided to weigh the matter up via her trustworthy, and balanced kitchen scales.

With each jelly cup weighing in at 130 grams the proof was in the pudding – Woolworths, and not the eagle-eyed shopper was the incorrect party.

The jelly is in fact being charged at a far more reasonable $4.54, welcome news to any nervous dessert fans watching the proceedings on the edge of their seats.

“I know prices go up but even so we haven’t quite got to $18 per kg for jelly. Yet!” the triumphant shopper wrote.

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