Is it time for an Australian-made aisle?
Now more than ever buying Australian-made products will help struggling businesses, create job and boost the nation’s economy by keeping the money here.
Buying Australian Made has become a trending topic, especially given the unpredictable environment we are currently living in.
And as air freight comes to a standstill and manufacturing in China shutdowns, it has become even more apparent how much of what we buy is produced overseas, says strategist and champion of consumer centricity, Allan Dib.
According to Roy Morgan Research, 90% of Australians say they are motivated to buy Australian-made products, but this attitude is not reflected in their purchasing behaviour.
- If we say we want to buy Australian Made, why don’t we do it?
- There is not an option – some products are not manufactured here, e.g., electronics.
- It is too expensive – the cheap labour market overseas results in more competitive prices.
- Unclear understanding – it is hard to know what is made/grown in Australia.
- We forget – we do not always think to buy Australian-made products when shopping.
Retailers could use the Nudge theory to make it easier for Australians to buy Australian-made products, similarly to how they’ve set up health food aisles and international foods aisles, by setting up an ‘Australian-made’ aisle.
If not an aisle, it should be a search feature when shopping online.
Do you agree?
Having been married into a Croatian family, which on the whole do assimilate; I often found that adults over 50 years of age when they come to live in a new country do not want to learn how to speak English, it is something too difficult or they have not got enough education to learn the new language. It is sometimes frightening. Certainly they didn't want to write English or read it.
Because of that they want everything from the 'old country' the language the way of life the food especially.
Imagine if you went to live in a country were you could not speak English. You would keep with your own kind and keep on referring to the old country.
This is the problem with people that have come to Australia, they want to buy the same products they have used all their lives in their kitchens back home. They don't know how to cook Australian meals.
When their children go to school they start learning new things, new lunch packs, new meals....
Then the arguements start at home that most schools do not know about and the teachers start to wonder why the child is tired and nervous when they get into the classroom.
I experienced all this with my nieces and nephews back in the 70s.
So we experience in our shopping centres or street shops new food shops popping up and sometimes in our supermarkets foreign foods.
How many times have I heard my neice and nephews trying to translate to their parents who could not speak English. This situation explains not only in the food situation but many other aspects of the life for the adults who cannot understand. Now look at all the new folks moving into Australia and the issues they have no wonder they find it difficult to shop themselves. It is hard to cater for everyone.
I remember one instance that a lady wanted to purchase 'mad' of course nobody knew what the heck she was talking about!
I buy my groceries according to taste and health values and sure know what is made in Australia and what is not.
Surely the current isle system is adequate.