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Australians should celebrate Australia Day by buying food and grocery brands they know and trust so the nation doesn’t become increasingly reliant on imports, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) urged today.
The high Australian dollar is making imported food and grocery products cheaper, making it harder for Australian-made products to compete on Australian supermarket shelves.
Major retailers Coles and Woolworths are also significantly increasing their private label brands and devoting more shelf-space to these products which are increasingly being sourced offshore due to lower production costs.
AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said Australia Day was an ideal opportunity for the Federal Government to focus on Australia’s largest manufacturing industry – the $108 billion food and grocery sector – and give manufacturers a fair go.
“To ensure a fairer trading environment, the Government should appoint a Supermarket Ombudsman, who would enforce a Fair Trading Code of Conduct,” Ms Carnell said.
Industry Minister Kim Carr yesterday repeated concerns about the market dominance of major supermarkets, saying: “I'm so concerned about the way the supermarkets are operating within this country at the moment.”
Ms Carnell said a Supermarket Ombudsman would help create a more level playing field for primary producers and manufacturers in their dealings with major supermarkets.
“Australia and New Zealand have the highest levels of supermarket concentration in the world, delivering significant market power to major supermarkets and making it increasingly difficult for suppliers to negotiate reasonable trading terms and compete with the growing levels of private label products,” Ms Carnell said.
“Consumers want to be confident about buying affordable, nutritious and safe food and grocery brands they know and trust.
“So this Australia Day, let’s support Aussie jobs and buy Australian-made products.”
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More information: Brad Watts AFGC Director Media and Corporate Affairs 0437 379 818 |
