COLES is making a major investment in the ever growing demand for organic fruit and vegetables as a way forward for the $15 billion supermarket business.
What has Coles executive inspired is growing numbers of increasingly sustainability minded Australians are demanding 'greener' products.
To make it happen Coles has increased the number of partnerships with certified organic suppliers from 25 to 35.
The growers are spread across Australia and provide the necessary geographic diversity to supply organic produce all year round.
A 2021 Organic Market Report found 56 per cent of shoppers reported they purchased organic produce based on quality, less pesticides and chemicals, and sustainable farming practices.
Coles has also transformed its in-store organic fresh produce areas, almost doubled the amount and variety of organic fruit and vegetables on offer.
The strategy appears to be working.
During the past 12 months, Coles says there has been a 44pc increase in demand for organic produce through its 839 supermarkets spread across Australia. This includes almost triple the demand for organic bananas (up 187pc), more than doubled for avocados (up 113pc) and broccoli (up 30pc).
Suppliers include Apple Packhouse, Western Australia; vegetable grower Eldridge Fresh Organics, South Australia; Northern Territory mango grower Cheeky Farms; carrot, beetroot and celery grower Huggins and strawberry grower Ashbern Farms, Queensland; avocado packer Avorama, NSW; cherry grower Cantril Organics, Victoria; and vegetable grower Bio Farms, Tasmania.
Coles general manager for produce, Craig Taylor, said Coles now sourced produce from more than 35 farming families across Australia.
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"We have increased our network of growers and invested in new ranges, such as fresh organic snacking carrots, to offer customers convenient options like we already do in our conventional fresh range," Mr Turner said.
"Customers will now see more of their favourite fruit and veg in organic, like avocados, carrots and beetroots in abundance and at great value, thanks to our existing suppliers and new partners from across the country.
"We're proud to work with fantastic growers from coast to coast, from apple growers in Western Australia to carrot farmers in Victoria, to provide our customers who shop organically more choice in the fresh department all year round."
The Huggins Organic Farms, run by Troy Huggins, his wife Lorena and their six children, has been a pioneering facility for Australian Certified Organics.
Agricultural Network operations manager Rodney Tripp, who represent the Huggins family farm, said support from Coles the entire farming process, from harvesting to packing, is as environmentally conscious as possible.
"We have transitioned away from wrapping our fruit and vegetables in plastic, minimising packaging waste while maintaining the quality of the product," Mr Tripp said.
"This year has been particularly hard with two major flood events affecting the farm, but Coles and the community came together to provide support, and the first supply of organic vegetables to Coles customers, post flood, started in late September."
The Arahura Farm provides Coles with year-round carrots, celery and beetroot from its Swan Hill farm.
Arahura Farm general manager Sean Croft said it was not just about "talking the talk" when it comes to sustainable growing practices.
"It's also about walking the walk, which is why we have developed a new pack line to double efficiencies when it comes to packing carrots, while reducing 1600kg in soft plastic packaging," Mr Croft said.
"Coles has been extremely supportive of our business, giving us the confidence to continually advance our sustainable farming methods and make us proud of not only what we do, but the quality we deliver to customers."
Coles announced earlier this year it would be providing grants to six businesses, which were implementing plans to improve sustainability, grow Australia's organic fresh produce industry and increase sustainable meat production.
Mt Alma Organics, located in the Burdekin region of North Queensland, received a $300,000 Coles Nurture Fund grant to buy and install specialised equipment for washing, grading and sorting produce to increase production.
Victorian family business Peninsula Fresh Organics is using a $300,000 grant to help implement its plans to transform its irrigation infrastructure at its farms at Baxter in Victoria and Barham in NSW, saving 60 million litres of water a year and preventing run off of nutrients into local waterways, and to build a cool room to improve product shelf life.
Coles Nurture Fund has delivered $30 million worth of grants to Australian growers since 2015.
The organic strategy is also part of Coles's Together to Zero Waste ambitions, with 35 tonnes of plastic being removed from pre-packaging.
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