The Aldi supermarket chain in Australia is continuing to capture more of the fresh vegetable market, with the retailer posting double-digit growth in sales value across most major commodities. 

Reports from the Nielsen Homescan service show that the German retailer has enjoyed above-trend growth in value for a wide range of fresh vegetables, including 48% growth for fresh salad, 43% for sweet potato and 37% for celery.

A spokesperson for Australia's main vegetable grower body, Ausveg, said while overall sales value was higher for most vegetables than the same time last year, Aldi had gone 'above and beyond' the increases shown by commodities overall.

"For fresh salads, for example, Aldi posted growth of over 40 per cent in both value and volume sales. Coles also showed expansion in both categories, while Woolworths actually lost ground," Kurt Hermann said.

"We’ve also seen other supermarkets – that is, retailers who don’t fit into the Woolworths, Coles, Aldi or IGA stables – achieve consistent growth across most vegetable commodities."

Recent figures released by Aldi show the German group has almost doubled its sales revenue since 2010, and estimates suggest it has captured around 11% of Australia’s east coast supermarket business.

"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," Hermann said.

"They’ve also increased their sales volume for cucumber, capsicum and broccoli, despite this indicator actually dropping overall for these commodities."

"This is a clear indicator that Aldi are increasing their market share against the retailers for several key vegetable commodities."

Nielsen Homescan data is funded by Horticulture Innovation Australia using the National Vegetable Levy and funds from the Australian Government.

Photo: www.shutterstock.com

www.freshfruitportal.com