Page 29 - Retail World March 2021

“We’re not the only industry suffering a shortage of labour due to Covid-19 with the shutdown of the borders,” he said. “The Pacific Island Seasonal Worker Programme has been an absolute blessing for our industry in the past five to six years, but that’s been challenged because of Covid-19 in the past 12 months. So, labour is a real issue. “We’re very supportive of the Seasonal Worker Programme, and we’ll continue to do that and continue to commit to have people come from the Pacific Islands to harvest produce. Without them, the availability \[of fresh produce\] would be questionable, and prices would certainly head north. We want to make sure that, at all times, we have fruit and vegetables in this country that are affordable for consumers.” Another challenge identified by Mr Simonetta is the availability of water. “We live in one of the driest continents in the world and that hasn’t changed for as long as I’ve been in business,” he said, adding that water shortage in some areas is a key challenge the company faces. When it comes to optimising sales within the fresh category, Perfection Fresh advises retailers that, “in addition to having the best quality and a range of produce that wows shoppers”, they should “inspire them with POS material and in-store sampling that helps them understand how they can use the produce”. “Having the right mix of everyday, exclusive- and unique- branded produce delivers the best shopping experience and drives quality perceptions for the store being shopped, ultimately leading to repeat shopping trips,” Mr Simonetta said. “As we continue to evolve sub-categories in produce, segmentation will play an important role in growth. Helping shoppers understand all the possible meal occasions and uses for fresh produce will expand consumption and make way for premiumisation through entertaining and convenience demand moments, where consumers will pay more.” What does 2021 have in store for the company? “We’ve innovating,” Mr Simonetta said. “At any one time there are at least 20 items in our new product development funnel, and while we don’t expect to deliver on all of them, we do know we’ll have some exciting and innovative products to come. “For example, in 2021, look out for cauliflower’s good-looking cousin – our cauli-blossom Fioretto, and our baby range, including new Bambino Sweet Cabbage and more.” Let’s avocuddle Avocados Australia Ltd (AAL) is the representative industry body for the Australian avocado industry. CEO John Tyas says AAL is a not-for-profit, member-based organisation with growers, associated businesses and industry people among its members. “We work across the supply chain, because by working together as an industry, we’re able to provide avocados that are profitable, healthy and safe, for everyone,” he said. “Avocados Australia’s role in achieving this goal is to work with our members with regard to service delivery and agripolitical lobbying work. But we don’t stop there. On behalf of all levy paying growers, we work with Hort Innovation to ensure the industry-levy funded research and development and marketing programs are well directed and responsive to industry needs. here to help the industry supply better avocados.” Despite some suggesting that the ‘smashed avocado on toast’ trend was simply a fad, Mr Tyas says the avocado industry is performing well, with “more than 70 per cent of Australian households buying avocados”. “On a per-capita basis, we’re big avocado consumers,” he said. “Australians eat 3.88kg of avocado per person, per year.” These trends don’t appear to be slowing down. Mr Tyas says the latest available data from Nielsen and Hort Innovation’s ‘Harvest to Home’ analytics tool, which provides insights on marketing performance and shopper behaviour, shows the average household spend on avocados for the 12 months to 29 November 2020 increased to $66.29 from $59.53 in the preceding 12 months. “We’ve been hearing for years that the smashed avo is a fad, but that really doesn’t seem to be the case,” Mr Tyas said. “At the moment we simply can’t grow enough, but that’s rapidly changing. “The grower marketing levies have been very important to help our consumers take avocado from a special item in the summer salad to an everyday purchase that can be used at breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. As our marketing campaign attests, avocados actually do make everything better. “As the national orchard grows, we need to ensure our consumers continue to regularly put avocado in their shopping baskets. That’s why we’re working hard to continue to improve quality and reliability, which is only possible by working across the entire supply chain. TO PAGE 28 FRESH “Avocados do indeed make everything better, and we’re MAR, 2021 RETAIL WORLD 27