Australians have picked ALDI as the winner of Canstar Blue’s new award category for supermarket fruits and vegetables.
Consumers rated ALDI higher than IGA, Coles and Woolworths for overall satisfaction with the important supermarket offering.
In a survey of more than 2500 shoppers, ALDI’s fruits and vegetables offering received five stars for overall satisfaction. The retailer also received five stars in the quality of products, value for money, freshness of produce, variety of products, special offers and store layout categories.
Canstar Blue’s Home and Lifestyle expert Megan Birot says consumers were happy with the variety of fruits and vegetables available in Australian supermarkets across the board.
“All of the big supermarket groups achieved five stars for their variety of products, which was important given that 58% of shoppers told us that they bought something from the fruits and vegetables department on every supermarket visit,” she says.
“Where ALDI really stood out from the competition is for value for money, store layout and presentation and for its well-known deals and special offers.”
ALDI Group Buying Director of Fruit and Vegetables Jordan Lack says fresh produce had been a priority for ALDI over the past few years because the supermarket recognised how important it was to customers, so it was absolutely delighted to be recognised with the Canstar Blue award.
“From a range of regions around Australia, we partner with local growers who work extremely hard to bring the best quality produce at ALDI’s lowest prices to our stores every day, so this award is equally a credit to them,” he says.
Further findings
Canstar Blue’s consumer survey also found that almost half (46%) of the shoppers surveyed had tried the fruits and vegetables department of multiple supermarkets and a quarter (25%) regularly bought the ‘ugly’ fruits or vegetables.
Almost a fifth (18%) admitted, though, that they often purchased fruits and vegetables they didn’t end up eating and threw away.
“Canstar Blue’s survey has also revealed that more than two fifths – 41% – of Aussies [surveyed] would buy fresh fruits and vegetables from markets or independent grocers, but supermarkets are simply cheaper and more convenient,” says Ms Birot.
Supermarket brands dominated Canstar Blue’s new organic food products ratings as well, with ALDI adding yet another win to its basket.
“Only one non-supermarket brand – MyOrganics – has made it to the top four in our organic food products ratings, surpassing Woolworths’ Macro Organic but coming in second to ALDI’s Just Organic and Coles Organic,” says Ms Birot.