Woolies leads fruit and veg
Solid sales gains by Woolworths have led more supermarket growth in Australia’s $18 billion fresh fruit and vegetable market space.
Long-term market trends monitored by the Roy Morgan Research group show Australia’s two largest supermarkets have more than 51 per cent of the fresh horticultural produce market between them.
Market leader, Woolworths has a 27.4pc share, up 1.3pc points in the past year, and Coles Group holds 23.9pc, down 0.7pc points.
They have a combined share of the fresh fruit and vegetable market larger than all other retail outlets including rival supermarkets Aldi and IGA, fruit shops, farmers markets, other supermarkets and corner stores.
Roy Morgan found 56pc of Australians who purchased fresh fruit or vegetables from a fruit shop also bought produce from a supermarket in an average seven day period.
While Coles increased its number of buyers in an average seven day period, its share of the fresh fruit and vegie market fell slightly.
That loss was effectively picked up by the third largest supermarket, Aldi, which now has a 10.1pc of the fresh fruit and vegetable category, or 0.6pc more than a year ago.
Aldi is on course to overtake the combined sales of fruit shops, which currently account for almost 16pc of the market.
Inall sleeping rough
Australian Dairy Farmers chief executive, David Inall, will swap his bed for Melbourne’s cold, hard streets on June 21 when he sleeps outside on the longest night of winter to raise money to fight homelessness in the annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout.
Mr Inall hopes to raise $5000 as part of Vinnies’ goal to reach $1 million in Victoria, which will help the more than 116,000 homeless people across Australia.
The last Australian Bureau of Statistics census recorded a shocking jump of 14,000 homeless people in Australia (14 per cent) in the five years to 2016.
“The rate of homelessness in this country is devastating and it is our responsibility to raise funds to help people who are vulnerable,” said Mr Inall, who has twice before participated in the eye-opening experience when at the Cattle Council of Australia in chilly Canberra.
“I hope others who are fortunate to work in Australian agriculture will also be a part of this cause,” he said.
The CEO Sleepout has raised $36.5m since 2006, with organisers hoping to collect $6.4m in donations this year.
Elders’ NZ rumours persist
Speculation continues to swirl around Elders’ growth ambitions in New Zealand – a market the farm services company exited just a few years ago.
Rumours in capital market circles have followed managing director, Mark Allison’s apparent overseas travel moves in NZ and South America in the past week.
While Mr Allison has previously dismissed suggestions the company would consider buying NZ’s market leading agribusiness PGC Wrightson, unless it was a particularly good bargain, sources close to Elders suggest it is now one of the few potential contenders still likely to bid.
PGC Wrightson is 50.2 per cent owned by Singapore’s Agria Corporation, which is part-owned by Chinese food and agribusiness giant, New Hope.
Agria began moving to sell its stake in the trans-Tasman and South American business late last year prompting financial media speculation Elders could pay up to $550m to buy in.
Yates’ organic move
Horticulture and garden products company, Yates, will ramp up its organic market activity when it takes control of Sydney based business, Organic Crop Protectants (OCP) in the coming week.
OCP products are specifically designed to support bio-diversity, build soil fertility, and be safe for beneficial insects, with most of its range independently Certified Organic by Australian Organic.
Yates, a division of the DuluxGroup, dates its heritage back to 1886, and today makes and distributes an extensive range of seeds, fertilisers, plant protection products, garden accessories, and potting mixes under leading brands including Yates, Zero, Dynamic Lifter and Hortico.
“I believe Yates’ commitment and strategy to invest in and develop a broad range of organic solutions is aligned to ours,” said OCP managing director, Gary Leeson.
“Our aim is to stay ahead of the innovation curve for biological and organic farm and garden inputs and Yates is one of the largest investors in R&D and innovation in the Australian garden care market.”
Yates has committed to building the organic category in commercial and retail markets.
“The OCP business will be a great addition to our portfolio, and we can build on that foundation via an organics division within Yates,” said executive general manager at Yates, Jennifer Tucker.
Strawberry flavoured growth
Consumers are increasingly choosing strawberries over other traditional fruit as the popularity of fresh fruit and berries climbs.
A worldwide market report and forecast estimates the global strawberry market amounted to 9.2 million tonnes in 2016 – five per cent up on 2015 – and will grow to 11.5m tonnes by 2025.
The report, from European market research group IndexBox, identified robust market expansion from 2007 to 2016 with cumulative annual growth of more than 5pc.
The market was worth $21 billion to producers and importers.
The healthy food trend was increasingly obvious in developed markets, such as the US and Europe, but demand for strawberries is also strong in emerging markets in Asia
China already leads the world with 41pc of total strawberry consumption, well ahead of the U.S. (16pc), Egypt (5pc), Turkey (4pc), Mexico (4pc) and Germany (3pc).
Australian Made boss resigns
Australian Made Campaign chief executive officer, Ian Harrison, will depart the job in July, after 14 years at the helm of the organisation responsible for promoting and administering the iconic green and gold Australian Made, Australian Grown logo.
“Australia’s strong nation brand is a great asset for our business community and our economy, but the challenge always is to make that connection,” he said.
“That is what the Aussie Made logo was created to do 32 years ago and, I am pleased to say, is doing so even more powerfully today as a trusted symbol by consumers looking to buy genuine Aussie products.”
Campaign chairman, Glenn Cooper, said during Mr Harrison’s time as chief executive the number of businesses registered to use the symbol had grown to 2700, and the logo was now on more than 20,000 products sold in Australia and overseas.
“This will increase significantly with its formal inclusion in the federal Government’s new country of origin labelling scheme for foods sold in Australia, which is mandatory from July 1.”
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