Australia
December 7, 2010

Australians love their carrots, with the orange vegetable the most popular vegetable on a weekly basis amongst households in the June quarter, as well as Australia‟s leading vegetable export over a number of years. But a lack of smaller pack size options compared to the US and UK could be disadvantaging even greater sales and consumption of the popular healthy product, the industry‟s Veginsights report for November has found.

AUSVEG is the national peak industry body representing the interests of over 9,000 Australian vegetable and potato growers.

Spokesperson for AUSVEG, Andrew White said that while consumers were buying an average of 705 grams of carrots when they selected them from the loose display area, compared to the extensive US and UK ranges of packed carrots, Australian consumers were limited in their choice to only three packed sizes of 500g, 750g and 1kg.

“There are certainly opportunities to add value in the Australian market. Given the absence of smaller pack sizes in Australia, it appears that extra value per kilogram is not being captured and that consumer preference could potentially be better met with a greater variety of options,” Mr White said.

“It might be time for growers and the rest of the supply chain to reconsider whether smaller portions are appropriate for the Australia market, including milled or baby carrots. Indeed, product offerings across a range of different vegetable types should be continually assessed to determine if they are worth exploring further,” he said.

In the US there are five different pack size options available for carrots under 500 grams, while in the UK three different size options under 500 grams are available to consumers.
The Veginsights report also found that 57 per cent of carrot buyers spend less than $75 per shopping trip, indicating that while carrots are purchased on most types of shopping trips, they are more likely to be purchased on smaller „top up‟ shops than anything else.

“This may indicate that consumers are more comfortable purchasing carrots as an impulse purchase on these smaller „top up‟ shopping trips, which are often unplanned,” Mr White said.

“There are lessons for many vegetable types here, with portion size and availability of new products an important consideration for both growers and the wider supply chain as they assess the market.”

Mr White said he attributed the popularity of carrots across seasons to the wide variety of preparation types available including many different raw and cooked options and encouraged growers to download a copy of the November report.

The Veginsights report was produced by market analysis and consulting firm Freshlogic, and is part of the Vegetable Industry Development Program funded by the National Vegetable Levy with matched funds from the Australia Government.

Website: http://www.ausveg.com.au

Published: December 7, 2010