Private label campaigns reducing choice, says AFGC

Major supermarkets are reducing their overall product range as they aggressively promote their home brand products, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) claims.

According to AFGC CEO Gary Dawson, research released by Coles reveals the extent of the fall in product choices on offer to consumers. The research, conducted by Deloitte Access Economics, showed that Coles’ product range dropped by 11% from mid-2010 to mid-2012, from 62,000 to 55,000 products.

“A loss of 7000 products from a supermarket’s overall offering is a significant reduction in the range of choices available to consumers,” Dawson said.

“These figures confirm what shoppers report anecdotally - that they often can’t find their favourite products on the shelves any more when they go to the major supermarkets.”

Dawson said Coles’ latest campaign to promote its private label products indicates that this trend will continue.

“This is a classic Trojan horse tactic - disguising a longer run loss of choice for consumers,” Dawson said. “And as the range of choices drops, so does competition, raising the risk that in the longer run, the major supermarkets will have even more market power.

“The thousands of suppliers that make up Australia’s $110 billion per annum food and grocery manufacturing industry rely heavily on the major supermarkets to get their products to consumers.

“Consumers who find their favourite products have disappeared from the supermarket shelves should raise it with the store manager and make their voices heard.”