Coles launches Australian roadshow to source new local produce
To meet the demand from almost 70% of their customers for more home-grown produce, Coles has announced a series of local-sourcing roadshows.
Coles’ buyers will tour the country meeting local suppliers, food manufacturers and farmers in search of new and boutique products for customers. The first event will be held in South Australia in August.
Coles’ General Manager for Grocery Richard Pearson said, “There is a huge opportunity for Coles to meet the increasing demand for locally sourced products and that in turn creates a massive opportunity for local suppliers of all sizes right across Australia.”
The new ‘Meet the Buyer’ events aim to introduce Coles to “hidden local gems” from each Australian State.
Some smaller producers are expressing their personal concerns that Coles may not be willing to pay the usual “boutique” prices that smaller producers expect, or may insist on consignments of a larger volume at discounts that some small producers are ill-equipped to deliver.
Under Coles’ ‘Australia First’ sourcing policy, more than 90% of Coles brand grocery products must be Australian-made. Last month Coles announced that all of its Coles Brand frozen vegetables would be sourced from Simplot in Tasmania.
Similar announcements have also been made in dairy with Coles Brand cheese now 100% Australian made following new supply contracts with Bega Cheese.
The move towards locally grown produce is aimed at providing Coles with a point-of-difference in marketing against the Woolworths “fresh food” message. Coles is also seeking to draw more customers away from local farmers’ markets and independent supermarkets such as IGA.
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local farmers markets is a far more viable way of getting fresh local produce rather than produce trucked in from other states.
COLES IS GETTING SCARED G O O D.
Why aim to “draw more customers away from local farmers’ markets” ? These markets are a completely different experience to shopping in a huge supermarket – being able to meet the farmers or primary producers, get super fresh organic produce, support local farmers and pay fair prices for their produce directly, and enjoy a friendly community-minded environment. A supermarket can never ever replicate this experience, and nor should it try. But it can try to source more local food, reduce long haul transport of goods, support organic growers, pay a FAIR price to ALL its suppliers, disengage from the current “price wars” with major competitors, and generally focus on being more environmentally sustainable in all its actions. Consumers also need to realise they have to pay a fair price for their food, so our Australian producers can survive and thrive, and reduce our dependence on cheap imported goods.