Supermarket giants’ push into healthfood gets boost

Coles’ and Woolworths’ push into the healthfoods category has been bolstered by a global survey underlining the strength of consumer demand for healthier packaged and fresh foods.

According to research firm Nielsen, about 71 percent of consumers in the Asia-Pacific region are changing their diets to lose weight and 25 to 40 percent are more than willing to pay a premium for foods that are free from artificial colours, flavours and gluten, low in fat and salt, and higher in protein and fibre. In Australia, more than half (56 percent) of consumers believe they are overweight and 78 percent believe changing their diet is more important than exercising.

This behaviour is underpinning strong growth in the healthfoods category and prompting Coles and Woolworths to boost their offers by creating health food “destinations” within stores – increasing shelf space, expanding the number of products, and building private label brands.