Organic trend: ALDI joins Coles and Woolworths expanding category
ALDI is this month showcasing its growing organic product range via “Organics Month”.
Australia owns 53 per cent of the world’s organic farmland according to AusVeg statistics recently published. Since 2015, this is an increase in Australian organic farming land of 23 per cent, which services the $2.4 billion industry in organic supermarket fare.
ALDI offers three exclusive brand lines, one of which is “Just Organic”. This Australian brand is independently audited to ensure industry recognised organic certifications.
The Just Organic range includes organic brie, yoghurt, pastas and baked beans. There’s also kombucha. It’s grew almost 50 per cent in 2017.
Key driver for choosing organic
The Australian Organic Market Report found that the key driver for choosing organic products is personal health.
According to Roy Morgan research, 2.25 million Australians follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. This makes Australian’s vegan market the third fastest growing worldwide.
This growing conscientious choice to opt for a diet that is healthy, sustainable and ethical is inevitably aligned with demand for organic and local dietary choices.
Nielsen research shows 25 to 40 per cent of consumers in the Asia Pacific region are willing to pay a premium for foods free from artificial colours, flavours and gluten, low in fat and salt, and higher in protein and fibre.
ALDI’s increased range of organics and drive to compete has only ramped up with the introduction of Amazon into the $90 billion grocery sector.
ALDI has already trumped competitors, Coles and Woolworths, by coming in ahead of Qantas and Bunnings in the top five of Australia’s most trusted brands, according to Roy Morgan research. The brand is known for discount prices and a reputation for the quality of their private label.
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Megatrend needs supply chain innovation
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci identified healthy and organic food as a “megatrend” while presenting at the Global Food Forum, though he also pointed out the lack of innovation in supply chain meant organic was often twice the price of non-organic. The Woolworths health-focused Macro label is worth $600 million a year in sales.
Coles offer their own line, Coles Organic. They expanded their Health Foods category with over 250 products earlier this year, with category manager Samuel Griffin confirming there’d been an increased demand for organic and gluten free products in the past 12 months.
The growing competition and expanding organic range at each of the major supermarkets is good news for health conscious consumers and suppliers.
Increased demand for organic products inevitably means investment in supply chains, manufacturing and processing that meets stringent industry standards for organic food. The existing standards for food labelled organic are not policed as thoroughly as in America and Europe. This will be the next step.
