WOOLWORTHS is keeping pace with the rising health and wellness sector by adding to its Macro Wholefoods Market offering.

The supermarket last week announced its gourmet health-food range will now exceed 350 products, with the likes of beetroot latte, hemp products, protein powder and chips, a fava bean snack range for kids and banana flour being new to the range.

Woolworths Macro brand manager Kate Walker told news.com.au the health food sector had become a competitive market between supermarkets — and a platform for bringing new customers through the door.

“This is 100 per cent a competitive sector,” Kate Walker said.

“We are seeing other supermarkets aggressively bringing out more [wholefood-style] products as well.

“When we bought Macro nearly 10 years ago and put it on the shelves in Woolies … it was a bit unloved because the need wasn’t there like it is now.

“The last few years health has become more and more important, and what we have found is customers want to be healthy, but they don’t know how to be healthy or they find it too hard or too expensive or it doesn’t taste good.

“There has been a barrier (between health foods and customers), so what we had to do is work out how to make Macro more accessible — from having the right range, to having lunch box friendly snacks and foods high in protein or fibre.”

Guide to Goodness

At the same time last week Woolworths Macro launched its Guide to Goodness, featuring products from the macro range including how-to videos and recipe inspirations.

Organic market is worth $2.4 billion

According to figures released in May this year by Australian Organic, the organic market is worth $2.4 billion. The retail market is estimated at $1.6 billion – up 88 per cent since 2012 – accounting for 70 per cent of Australia’s organic market. Australia holds over 35 million hectares of land under certified organic management, accounting for 62 per cent of the world’s organic farmland.

• More than 6 in 10 Australian households buy organic in any given year
• ‘Chemical-free’ (82%) and ‘Additive-free’ (71%), along with being ‘Environmentally friendly’ (70%) are viewed as the largest benefits of organic
• Cost continues to dominate as the biggest hurdle in greater purchasing of organic food (67%), followed by ‘trusting it is organic’ at 40%

Also in this edition of Australian Food News

• We’ve got the single-use plastic bag issue wrapped

• Supermarket troublemaker now in mid-air drama

• Wine maker takes stake in ASX-listed whisky Co

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