Poster Presentation Nutrition Society of Australia 50th Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Prevalence of supermarket own brand foods promoted as Australian-made (146999)

Claire E Pulker 1 2 , Gina SA Trapp 2 3 4 , Jane A Scott 1 , Christina M Pollard 1 5
  1. School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
  2. Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia
  3. The Kids Research Institute, The University of Western Australia, West Perth, WA, Australia
  4. School of Population and Global health, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
  5. The Enable Institute, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

Supermarkets hold a powerful position within the food system, influencing population diets through the products they sell, and marketing techniques used.(1)  Supermarket own brand foods (SOBF), a source of supermarket structural power, can change suppliers and country-of-origin without alerting consumers because the product and packaging often remain unchanged. Public concern about country-of-origin is high amongst Australians, who regard it as an indication of food quality and sustainability.  Locally sourcing foods can assure social, environmental and ethical standards, however the country-of-origin for SOBF is currently unknown.  This study examines the prevalence of SOBF promoted as Australian-made. Photographic audits of one supermarket from each of the three chains present in Perth, Western Australia (Coles, Woolworths, IGA) were conducted in 2017.(2) A total of 20,000 images of products, store location, shelf location, and display area, were captured for all 3940 SOBF present and assigned to one of 18 food groups. This research was conducted prior to Australia’s Country of Origin Labelling regulations for food coming into full effect in 2018. Therefore, to identify SOBF promoted as Australian-made all information referring to Australia from front-of-pack labelling and shelf-edge labels was recorded (e.g. Australian flag, map of Australia, statement or claim about Australia, Australian-made triangle). Descriptive statistics summarised frequency of techniques used to promote SOBF as Australian-made, and prevalence by food group. Across all supermarkets 2428 SOBF (62%, n = 2428) were promoted as Australian-made, of which almost all (81%, n = 1972) displayed the one of three versions of the Australian-made triangle.  Other design techniques included using ‘Australia’ as part of the product name or description (21%, n = 839), featuring the Australian flag on the front-of-pack (10%, n = 375) and use of shelf-edge labels stating Australian/WA grown/made (3%, n = 137). Almost all prepacked fresh SOBF (98%, n = 429) and chilled convenience SOBF (93%, n = 252) were promoted as Australian-made.  Bakery products contributed the largest number of SOBF promoted as Australian-made (75%, n = 464).  Few SOBF in the processed fish (2%, n = 2), processed vegetables, legumes and fruit (16%, n = 33), or dried fruit (19%, n = 9) food groups were promoted as Australian-made. This study shows that supermarkets commonly promoted SOBF as Australian-made, consistent with the Coles and Woolworths fresh food sourcing policies. The focus on sourcing fresh SOBF is unsurprising given it requires relatively short supply chains to maintain acceptable food quality for shoppers.  Priority should now be given to sourcing processed SOBF from Australian food producing communities at risk of losing livelihoods, and ensuring social, environmental and ethical standards have been applied.

  1. Pulker CE, Trapp GSA, Scott JA, Pollard CM (2018) Obes Rev 19(2):198-218
  2. Pulker CE, Trapp GSA, Foulkes-Taylor F, Scott JA, Pollard CM (2018) Nutr J 17(1):95