Latest statistics published by Australian research survey company Roy Morgan suggest Australians are increasingly choosing natural yoghurt. However, fruit or flavoured yoghurt still remained the most popular amongst survey participants with 52 per cent of consumers eating fruit or flavoured yoghurt in a four week period. Drinking yoghurt or pro-biotic/cultured milk was being consumed by 9 per cent of consumers. The research was based on a survey undertaken by Roy Morgan of 18,483 Australian consumers... ...Read more »

A London-based market research company has outlined four trends that it believes will shape the way foodservice operators develop menu options during 2012. The four trends are identified by Mintel Group are: Slow it down: Fast food restaurants are returning to more time-intensive preparation methods for their menu items. As such, items described as “hand-made” or “home-style” are popping up on restaurant menus. Consumers are prepared to seek more from their dining experience... ...Read more »

Newly appointed CEO of Australian retail giant, Woolworths Limited, Grant O’Brien today warned of subdued Christmas trading in Australia this year. Addressing shareholders at Woolworths’ Annual General Meeting in Sydney, Mr O’Brien said he believes trading in Australia will “remain subdued – most probably through to the next financial year”. His warning comes days after market research organisation, IBISWorld, forecasted a flat Christmas for food retailers in Australia. Mr O’Brien... ...Read more »

Market research organisation IBISWorld has predicted that A$9.8 billion will be spent on food in Australia this Christmas – a timid 3.4 per cent increase spending in 2010. According to IBISWorld, with annual inflation of around 3.3 per cent in Australia, this means that most food retailers will simply be treading water. IBISWorld General Manager (Australia), Ms Karen Dobie said that in 2011, Australian shoppers have been savvy, seeking out the best value for money, the best range and the best... ...Read more »

Research findings published today by market researcher Newspoll suggest that almost half of Australians are ‘supermarket grazers’, who admit helping themselves to free produce while shopping in supermarkets. In Newspoll’s nationwide online survey of 1,214 adults between the ages of 18 and 64, almost half (46 per cent) of respondents said they taste food in the supermarket without paying for it. Younger Australians appeared to be the main culprits with the research suggesting that 18-34 year... ...Read more »

Australian public health organisations have co-signed a letter from consumer advocacy group CHOICE, urging Federal Government to adopt the Traffic Light front-of-pack food labelling scheme. Signatories to the letter, sent to the Australian Government’s Ministerial Council responsible for labelling law and policy, include Public Health Association of Australia, Australian Medical Association, Diabetes Australia, Cancer Council Australia, Obesity Policy Coalition, The Australian New Zealand Obesity... ...Read more »

Producers and consumers of olive oil will gather at the 2011 National Conference and Trade Exhibition in Wangaratta today, to discuss issues currently facing the industry, including its relationship with consumers. Described by Homer as ‘liquid gold’ and worshipped by Mediterranean for centuries, olive oil has had a particularly ‘issue-filled’ year in Australia. Companies have been accused of misleading consumers, for example, by labeling oils ‘extra virgin’ when they were not. More recently,... ...Read more »

New research from the University of Chester, in the UK, has found that the location of a product on supermarket shelves influences shoppers’ preference for that product. The research paper, titled ‘Preferring the One in the Middle: Further Evidence for the Centre-stage Effect’, has just been published in the Applied Cognitive Psychology journal. The paper suggests that supermarket shoppers have a natural inclination to choose products located in the middle of a row. Researchers team,... ...Read more »

A report commissioned by the UK government on how to improve environmental labelling on food products has outlined the difficulties of producing a single “green” label. The report by the University of Hertfordshire, the Food Ethics Council and the Policy Studies Institute today (7 February) revealed that the number of different environmental labels on food – covering issues such as carbon emissions and water use – has been growing. The number of labels, the report noted, has... ...Read more »

Welcome to the supermarkets of the future: self service checkouts, ‘Tap N Go’ card readers, new smartphone barcode scanning apps and trolleys complete with computers and GPS tracking.  They promise speed, convenience and even more information for customers and retailers. But just how useful are they? Consumer group CHOICE has reviewed these new innovations to see if they live up to the hype, by truly benefiting consumers and retailers. Self service checkouts allow consumers to scan,... ...Read more »