Australians go bananas for baristas

Coffee and bananas are top performing products in the Australian convenience store sector, which is growing ahead of the total grocery market.

Australia has a “huge coffee culture”, according to Sheryle Moon, executive director of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS), fueled by the mass migration of Italians to Australia after the Second World War.

Many Australian convenience stores offer barista-style coffee and will grind their own beans and market their own unique blends.

Moon reported 7-Eleven is currently retailing Italian barista coffee for $1 a cup, versus $2-2.50 per cup in leading coffee chains. The competitive offer is driving traffic to its new format stores in cities including Sydney and Melbourne, said Moon.

Such moves appear to be hurting global coffee chains including Starbucks, which closed 64 stores in Australia last year.

Moon said many Australians perceive Starbucks as a “maker of milky drinks”, not a coffee house.

Meanwhile, 7-Eleven’s new outlets and other urban convenience outlets are strengthening their fresh food offer.

Bananas, in particular, sell well in Australia, says Moon. They outsell apples, for example, and have benefited from a strong, creative advertising campaign, which pitches bananas as ‘nature’s energy snack’. Visit youtube.com

The campaign takes the anti-obesity fight to confectionery and snack food manufacturers amid concerns of rising childhood obesity in Australia.

Moon admitted obesity was a problem but said health groups should not solely blame food producers.

“There’s a whole bunch of things that need to change - it’s a combination of food and exercise and it’s about portion control, not about making food bad.”

Moon said the AACS will be working to convey that message in 2010.

The Association will also be standing up for convenience retailers in the area of tobacco regulation.

Retail display bans were introduced in New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory in January. Western Australia and Victoria will follow suit next year. According to Moon, that covers 80% of the population.

Australia may also be the first country to introduce plain packaging on tobacco products. Moon said the AACS has put forward a submission to the senate inquiry regarding plain packaging and is calling for policy based on evidence.

There is no evidence plain packaging improves health, she said.

The display bans, meanwhile, have been well advertised and there has been little adverse reaction, said Moon.

“Australia quite likes regulations and Australians evolve pretty quickly,” she said. “They are early adopters to technology and change - tobacco is no longer one of the highest growth categories.”

Sheryle Moon: coffee and bananas are c-store staples