Kiwis go bananas for…bananas
Countdown managing director Dave Chambers on consumers' shopping habits.
The inaugural Countdown Trolley Report has revealed the humble banana has been crowned king of the supermarket, topping the list of highest-selling items in the past year.
The report shows the fruit dominates consumers’ shopping trollies, earning the No.1 spot in the year’s top 10 selling produce items, as well as the top 10 grocery-wide products.
The price of fresh fruit and vegetables has been on the decline, according to the September Food Price Index (FPI) report, which revealed produce prices decreased 3.3% when compared with prices from the corresponding period the year before.
The FPI report also shows fruit and vegetables account for $14 out of every $100 households spend on food.
Countdown’s Managing Director Dave Chambers says these numbers are not inconsistent with what Countdown have been seeing store wide.
He says grocery food prices have decreased 1.6% between September 2013 and September 2014.
“The price of a trolley that we track with our 100 most popular grocery items has decreased by just over 2% in the past 12 months.”
As well as bananas doing particularly well on the shelves, coconut has also established itself as a familiar part of a kiwi kitchen.
“Coconut, once seen as a niche, has moved mainstream internationally and its growth in New Zealand has been spectacular,” Mr Chambers says.
The report shows consumers are substituting coconut oil for butter, as well as adding it to roast vegetables and baking.
The annual sales of coconut water has exploded this year, with sales increasing almost 80% compared to sales in the same period last year.
Sales of coconut water across the country’s supermarkets has reached $3.2 million annually and shows signs of continued strong growth.
Jason Walls for NBR Food Industry Week
Tue, 09 Dec 2014
Tue, 09 Dec 2014
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Kiwis go bananas for…bananas
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