AUSTRALIA | A retail initiative developed by Monash University and Deakin University researchers in partnership with Ritchies IGA supermarkets has prompted shoppers to buy more vegetables by using ‘nutritional serve pricing’.
The National evaluation of nutritional serve pricing report showed on an individual level the initiative helped to increase the average daily vegetable purchases by more than 60 grams among all loyalty card shoppers.
On a store level, the initiative significantly increased daily vegetable purchase volumes by 7.5 kilograms.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data indicated that only 6.5 percent of Australian adults met the recommended intake for vegetables. To help address this gap, the researchers introduced an initiative called ‘nutritional serve pricing.’
This tool allows supermarkets to display per-serve prices alongside the standard per-kilogram pricing for vegetables. The ‘serving’ size is calculated based on a 75-gram nutritional serve, in line with Australian Dietary Guidelines.
For example, if carrots are priced at AUD 2.99 per kilogram, under the nutritional serve pricing initiative, the supermarket ticket also shows that one serve costs 22 cents. This approach shows the real cost of a typical nutritional serve, helping shoppers see that vegetables are more affordable than they might think.
The new approach was implemented across more than 70 Ritchies IGA Australian supermarkets in March 2024. The researchers analysed 850 consecutive days of de-identified loyalty card holder data to compare vegetable and fruit purchases before and after the launch of the initiative, making this the largest real-world assessment of pricing communication for vegetables in Australia.
Analyses were based on 56 stores that traded throughout this full period, thereby controlling for variations in sales volumes driven by store openings and renovations.
Consumer psychology expert and research lead for this initiative, Associate Professor Fiona Newton from Monash Business School, said that while the findings reflect aggregated purchasing patterns rather than the individual consumption of vegetables, they show a clear shift in behaviour following the introduction of per serve pricing.
Ritchies IGA CEO Fred Harrison added that the new pricing approach showed the influence supermarkets can have in promoting healthy food choices.
“At Ritchies, we are proud to partner with world-leading researchers from Monash and Deakin universities to deliver clear evidence that supports healthy options and value for our shoppers,” Harrison said.
“By showing the cost of a single serve, we are making healthy choices simpler and helping families put more fresh produce on the table while keeping value front of mind. It is part of our commitment to helping Australians meet the national recommendation of two serves of fruit and five to six serves of vegetables each day. That’s why we’re making the findings of this important research publicly available.”
The national peak body for vegetable growers, AUSVEG, has formally endorsed the ‘nutritional serve pricing’ retail initiative. AUSVEG CEO Michael Coote said the results point to a promising opportunity for growers and retailers.
At the same time, Justine Coates, Managing Director of AUSVEG’s Plus One Serve initiative to boost Australia’s vegetable consumption by 2030, said the approach provides consumers with a clearer way to understand both cost and dietary guidance.
Looking to the future, the Monash and Deakin researchers are exploring opportunities to replicate and adapt the approach across other retail settings.
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