Like milk, bread and eggs, cheese is one of those staples that finds its way into just about everyone’s grocery trolley on a regular basis, while grocery and convenience stores may need sharper pricing or have a home (private label) brand offer to capture more customers.
The latest findings from Roy Morgan Research reveal that 84% of Australian grocery buyers (or 11.8 million people) purchase some kind of cheese in an average four weeks: primarily block, grated/shredded and sliced. And for all three categories, home brands are the most popular choice.
Block cheese is the most popular kind of cheese by far, purchased by 9.4 million Aussie grocery buyers in an average four-week period. Some 2.3 million of them buy supermarket-brand blocks, edging out Bega blocks (2.2 million buyers) and well ahead of Coon blocks (1.1 million).
Just over 6.3 million Aussies buy grated/shredded cheese in an average four weeks, and once again, 2.3 million of them buy supermarket brands – almost triple the number who buy second-most popular brand, Bega (837,000 people).
Purchased by 712,000 grocery buyers in any given four weeks, Perfect Italiano is the third-most popular choice in this category.
Meanwhile, 5.4 million grocery buyers purchase sliced cheese in any given four weeks, with 1.6 million opting for supermarket brands. Again, Bega comes in second (1.3 million buyers), followed by Kraft (1.1 million).
Andrew Price, general manager – Consumer Products, Roy Morgan Research, said that Australian grocery buyers are not, on the whole, becoming more open to supermarket brand products.
Cheese, however, is a striking exception, with home-brands being the top choice in the block, grated/shredded and sliced categories.
“Driving the home-brand movement are grocery buyers from the 35-49 age bracket, who are consistently more likely than those from any other age group to buy supermarket-branded cheeses across all three categories. Living in a household with children under-16 also increases a grocery buyer’s likelihood of buying supermarket brand cheese (of course, many of these shoppers would fall within the 35-49 age range),” Mr Price said.