Murray River Organics secures new $2.3m branded deal with Woolworths

Posted by Media Release Agency on 6th July 2020

Murray River Organics Group Limited (ASX:MRG) (“MRG” or “the Company”) is pleased to provided the following update to its branded new product launch.

In partnership with Woolworths supermarkets, MRG will launch five new branded Murray River Organics products in September as a core range, with four additional products as part of the seasonal program.This is a new category for MRG which will further diversify MRO’s organic retail offering.

The new innovative products will be sold across 600 Woolworths stores in time for Christmas with estimated revenues of $2.3m per annum.

This follows MRG’s launch in Coles last month (June)when it entered the breakfast cereal category with a new range of Murray River Organics branded muesli. MRG’s launch was supported with a full communications program including new website, Instagram, and Facebook platforms as part of the launch of the Murray River Organics brand into the Australian consumer market.  Instore activation with Coles continuesto drive awareness of the brand and products.

MRG Chief Executive Officer, Valentina Tripp,said: “The launch of our MRO branded mueslis in Coles has been successful taking the top spot from the 26 newly launched products in the category in the launch week.”

“As part of our refreshed retail strategy, we are now delighted to partner with Woolworths for this new product launch scheduled for September. Our partnerships with Coles and Woolworths follow significant investments over the last 12months to develop the Murray River Organics brand proposition aligned to our strategy and purpose. We are building a brand which is authentic, has integrity and delivers accessibly priced organic products to Australian consumers.”

“The demand for clean, sustainable, healthy organics products is on the rise with the global pandemic further accelerating this growth. Consumers are more aware of the provenance of their purchases and demanding that our food system is transparent, sustainable, and ethical. It is important to our staff, growers, and partners to be part of transforming our global food systems.

Our team has worked tirelessly to bring the best organic products to Australian consumers. We hope, with consumer support, we will also encourage more local investment into organic agriculture and regenerative farming systems.”

Ms Tripp added, “Further, we are working on the next stage of Project Magnum, the development of our property in Nangiloc with a new pilot in development to grow organic oats, with a planned 30 hectare planting under centre pivot irrigation , for our branded muesli range. We expect to sow our first crop in 2021.”

The Australian organics market is estimated to be worth $2.6b with approximately 65per cent of Australian households now buying organic product or produce yearly, with annual growthof five per cent. The global organics market is estimated to be worth over $100b and provides significant opportunities to grow the consumer facing Murray River Organics brand which leverages MRG’s established export capability, packaging facility and distribution system.