In the next five years we will see a steady rise in the amount of packaged food being imported into Australia. Some brands have already oved their production up into Asia in order to deliver the ridiculous prices being asked by the supermarket chains. Sadly these low prices are not always reflected in the price of the goods, but absorbed into profit, which is the major motivation in the first place.

But even more devastating is the loss of a livelihood for many Aussies when manufacturing plants and factories are closed and associated industries such as printing, packing and logistics lose their business.

Coles has recorded its worst figures this year, though they are attributing it to their merging of Bi-Lo into the Coles brand. It does not acknowledge the increased popularity of Aldi, nor the public’s dissatisfaction with the removal of brands they prefer to buy, nor the upswing in the popularity of fresh foods purchased at markets.

I will certainly take more care now. I have noticed some brands of certain products seem to be more difficult to find. Examples such as grocer’s above would be horribly sad so I am definitely on the campaign to ensure what goes in my trolley supports the ‘little guys’.

in the UK supermarket “home brand” is a different concept entirely from what we in Australia perceive as home brand. as inthebiz says, it has become a point of differentiation whether it be waitrose, sainsbury, M&S or tesco (the tesco finest range is impressive indeed)

unfortunately our senior supermarket execs do not realise that our marketplace is not comparable to the UK supermarkets, our geography, demography and population density differ enormously, and the items they are trying to “home brand” are different to what the UK model is.

then again, why do we care about brands at all? shouldn’t we be more concerned about the quality (and freshness) of what we purchase at good value at any given time? (and this is what many of the NW European chains have gone for as a business model)

the big brands are all owned by major FMCG anyway, and negotiate their promotions within the retailer’s 13×4week promotion cycle. These major FMCG can cope with this and they already have a lot to answer for in terms of the cr@p that’s fills our supermarkets.
it’s the little guys that face loss of business, and that’s where we, the consumer, will lose out. so for example (and this is completely off the cuff and not a real life suggestion) if you want to buy crackers, you might struggle to find Kurrajong lavosh, but will probably always find ritz/jatz

that’s enough for one rant (sorry); i’m a newcomer to your blog as it is!!!

These products are born because competition between the supermarkets is so fierce and margins they make are low. They think they can make extra money by ‘cutting out the middle man’ (the brand) and putting the product under their brand. This happens even by keeping the product at the same price.

Usually, they ask ‘the brand’ to make it for them (so yes, it does come out of the same factory…), if not, they say they will simply go elsewhere and make other kind of threats to the brand owner (such as de-listing). ‘The brand’ then has to decide whether they make a tiny amount on producing it (and keep production up in their factories), or whether they get in the supermarkets bad books and let their competitors take the business.

The experience from the UK is not so much that they raise prices, but they limit choice of other brands (because the shelves aren’t elastic…). Competition between the supermarkets generally ensures that pricing remains quite ‘hot’. The other thing that supermarkets like is that these products are ‘exclusive’ to them, therefore, shoppers can’t directly compare prices.

What happens over time is that the supermarket-label product becomes such big brands that they then force their suppliers to work for very small margins — or threaten they’ll go to their competitors to make it. Often, the manufacturer is forced to accept the supermarkets terms because these products make up such a large part of their production (the sell less of their own ‘brands’ these days)> Either way, the supermarket wins because they’re making the profit they used to make, plus making the profit that ‘the brand’ used to make.

All this said, there is one supermarket in the UK that any foodie would die for: Waitrose. And many of their best products are own-label. The difference is most of the products are local, they taste delicious and the packaging is amazing. Of course, they cost a little more, but you know that before you go there. Indeed, the reason you go to their stores is to buy ‘Waitrose-branded’ products. Go figure…

Sometimes hard though to do the rounds for everything when we all have busy lives.

Love the blog … my first comment!

I look at few ingredients in detail before popping things in my basket - mostly I go for what I always go for - except when it comes to tinned tomatoes.

But having just relocated from ‘near a Safeway’ to ‘near a Coles’I'm finding the need to examine much of my trolley because many of my fav goods just aren’t on the shelves.

But in replacing my Angelina tinned tomatoes (which were the only Safeway tomatoes without added nasty ingredients) I’ve discovered something odd.

The only can of tinned tomatoes without additives (whether they be fake basil or a numbered colour) is You’ll Love Coles Italian Tomatoes.

Now Mr/Ms Coles Marketing Manager Who Reads Blogs To Keep Tabs On We Consumers, tell me this: Why does the You’ll Love Coles Australian Tomatoes include ‘Firming agent 500′ and ‘Food acid 330′ when the imported variety contains just good old tomatoes?

Hmmm.

Stu - you opened a can of wormed tomatoes!

Maybe this should be a topic for another blog posting?