The price of a Bunnings sausage sizzle could rise to about $5.20 by 2036 if food inflation continues at its current rate, according to a new projection.
The iconic sausage in a bun has remained at $3.50 since July 2022. A can of soft drink, currently $2, could reach about $2.96 over the same period, taking the cost of a sausage and drink to roughly $8.15.
For a family of four, a weekend visit for sausages and drinks could therefore cost about $32.61, compared with $22 today.
The estimates were compiled by data experts at Playcasino.com using food inflation recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics between 2019 and 2025. Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 26.6 per cent over those six years, equivalent to an average annual increase of about 4 per cent.
The figures are a projection rather than an indication that Bunnings is planning to change its prices. They assume food inflation continues at the same compound annual rate, with Bunnings retaining control of the national sausage sizzle price.
The low-cost fundraiser has already survived one increase in recent years. The sausage remained at $2.50 for 15 years before rising to $3.50 in July 2022, its first price increase since 2007. The price of canned drinks rose from $1.50 to $2 in February 2024.
Despite those changes, the sausage sizzle has become relatively better value as food prices have climbed. Had the $3.50 price kept pace with food inflation since September 2022, it would now be about $4.03.
Similarly, the $2.50 sausage sold in 2007 would cost about $4.17 today if it had risen in line with food prices.
The sausage sizzle remains a popular fundraising fixture, with all money raised going to the school, sporting club or charity running the barbecue.
“The Bunnings snag is one of the few things you can still buy with a $5 note and get change,” the data experts said.
“It has been $3.50 since 2022 while food prices kept rising, so it is better value today than when the price went up.
“If food keeps climbing at the rate it has since 2019, a $5 snag is not far off by 2036.
“The good news is that every dollar still goes to a local club or charity.”
