Nielsen data has indicated that Aldi Australia's fresh produce division has posted like-for-like double-digit growth, freshplaza.com reports.
The grocer achieved particlarly impressive growth for salad (48 per cent), sweet potatoes (43 per cent) and celery (37 per cent). In addition, while rival Coles's fresh produce division also grew in terms of both sales and value, Woolworths's fresh sales contracted.
Kurt Herman, a spokesperson for AUSVEG, which represents the interests of growers, said, “While overall sales value is higher for most vegetables than the same time last year, we’ve seen Aldi go above and beyond the increases shown by commodities overall. [...] Aldi have also managed to go against the overall trend for some commodities – while carrots, pumpkin and lettuce have all seen marginal drops in sales value this year, Aldi has increased their sales value for each of them.”
Referring to the fact that the discounter has boosted its sales volume for cucumbers, capsicums and broccoli, Nielsen observed, “This is a clear indicator that Aldi is increasing its market share against the retailers for several key vegetable commodities.”
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
