USING “Australian grown” as a selling tool has helped increase the profile and throughput of nuts sold in supermarkets, according to Woolworths’ Paul Schadel.
The head of supplier development and sourcing, own and exclusive brands for one of the biggest supermarket chains in the country addressed nut growers at the 2017 Australian Nut Conference in Melbourne, speaking on customer first sourcing and understanding the Woolworths nut customer.
Woolworths undertook customer research in January last year to better understand its nut consumer, looking at shopping habits and preferences.
The research found nuts were very well placed as a healthy eating and snacking product.
Translated into store placement, Mr Schadel said the results showed locating raw nuts in fresh produce covered both everyday and snacking occasions.
New initiatives such as information boards explaining the various type of nuts, plus their health benefits, were also being introduced to stores to better inform potential nut buyers.
For the salted and snacking nut sector, he said the research showed that, “not surprisingly”, some of the main consumers of salty nuts were middle-aged men consuming them with alcohol.
"It helped us validate that it's a logical place for salty nuts to sit, is in the impulse section down with salty chips because the occasion is very similar," he said.
One of the most identifiable trends, according to Mr Schadel, was that the re-branding of Australian nuts was well received by customers with many seeking out homegrown nuts over their imported counterparts.
"We are learning through this process that using country of origin and utilising Australian, gives us a great opportunity," he said.
In the dried fruit and nuts section, a small dedicated range for bakers located in the baking aisle made sense.
He also spoke on the importance of the Woolworths organic brand, Macro, and the placement of organic nuts in the health aisle.
He said even in the burgeoning organic space, Australian-sourced product was important.
“Customers trust Macro and they expect it to be a higher quality and they expect it to be organic,” he said.
"In produce, wherever possible, we will look to source Australian, but particularly when we are looking at Macro, if the ingredients are available and we can get the volumes we need, Macro will be Australian wherever possible."
With organics in mind, Mr Schadel spoke on the company’s rising commitment to nutrition within its own foods, saying it is front-of-mind each time a relabelling happens.
"Home Brand will operate in categories that ultimately are ‘naughty’. So we will always have a Home Brand softdrink, but as we re-engineer these products, we will always look to reduce the sugar content and make those products healthier every time we re-launch those products," he said.
Mr Schadel also addressed what Woolworths expects of its suppliers.
Among the considerations specifically for the nut industry was the complexity of the supply chain with the number of small farms supplying the business, and a concern over ethical vulnerability regarding teh treatment and care of workers throughout farm to plate.
Ashley Walmsley
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
Ashley Walmsley is the editor of ACM's only national, fresh produce magazine, Good Fruit & Vegetables, while also covering horticulture stories for the agricultural papers and websites. He also writes the weekly, The Ringer, column in the Qld Country Life.
