Australia

The premiumisation trend continues to have a massive impact on cat food, despite the economic challenges imposed by the pandemic, as cat owners are continually looking for products with the best quality, sourcing and nutritional components for their…

The COVID-19 pandemic gave a boost to dishwashing in Australia, as Australians spent more time at home, particularly at meal times. Whilst many foodservice outlets were open for takeaway or delivery, such options were considered less attractive, and…

Organic beverages saw significant growth in 2020 and 2021, particularly in hot drinks. Much of this was due to the popularity of a handful of popular organic fruit/herbal tea brands, most notably Unilever’s Pukka brand and Tenth Dot’s Higher Living…

A large proportion of Australian workers – major exceptions being those in the essential services and manufacturing – were required to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that activities that would otherwise have taken place in…

The pandemic in Australia resulted in strict lockdown measures, social distancing rules and stay-at-home guidelines, which were first implemented by the government in early April 2020 and continued across many key metropolitan cities in mid-2021,…

Pre-pandemic, a consumer shift in preference towards healthier diets resulted in fast value growth within starchy roots, encouraging more producers to enter the category. However, lockdown restrictions and foodservice closures in 2021 caused a strong…

Increased time spent at home and heightened levels of stress led consumers to consume a lot more food during periods of COVID-19 lockdown, as well as afterwards, with easy access to pantries as most people were constantly at home. The desire to…

Following significant declines witnessed in 2020 as a result of home seclusion and a prioritising of expenditure in the first year of the pandemic, demand for footwear notably improved in 2021 across the category. Sports footwear, particularly…

Demand for face masks (under other apparel accessories) remained significant in 2021 despite retail volume decline following 2020’s dynamic performance, as Australians continued to be challenged by a number of snap lockdowns throughout the year…

Pet food in Australia maintained growth in current value terms in 2021, and this is set to continue in 2022, as the premiumisation and humanisation trends continue to drive the industry. Consumers are feeding their pets premium products or mixing…

Bleach experienced particularly strong growth in 2020, due to its reputation as the ultimate germ-killer, a handy reputation to have during a pandemic. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic there were few cleaning tasks for which a product as strong as…

The growth trajectory of plant-based alternatives was already significant across packaged food prior to the pandemic. Consumers have grown increasingly aware of making better food choices for themselves and the environment and hence strong demand for…

Whether being used for home care or for personal care purposes, wipes experienced rapid growth in 2020 and 2021. Whilst this was partly due to their convenience when cleaning either surfaces or skin – a selling proposition that is attractive at any…

The boom in home improvements unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic also led to a boom in associated home furnishings. Whilst furniture in general experienced a significant uptick in growth in 2020, before slightly plateauing in 2021, those items of…

Even before the pandemic, polishes was a category in decline, with its customer base predominately made up of elderly Australians who placed great importance on the condition of their furniture, floor and footwear. New generations of consumers…

Home insecticides experienced solid growth in both 2020 and 2021, as climate conditions, specifically the presence of both La Niña and a negative Indian Ocean dipole, brought cooler and damper weather conditions to the heavily populated east coast of…

Retail volume sales of tea marginally declined in 2021, whilst current value sales grew by 5%. Thus, whilst the category attracted few additional consumers during the pandemic, dedicated tea drinkers have become connoisseurs, demonstrating a…

The pandemic shaped Australians’ purchasing behaviour in different ways, with a key trend being a strong focus on e-commerce as their preferred shopping destination when there was a state-wide lockdown in key metropolitan cities. Furthermore, many…

The COVID-19 pandemic remained the dominant influence over home care in Australia in 2021, for the second consecutive year. Whether consumers were purchasing large volumes of home care disinfectant or other surface care products containing…

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns meant that Australians were spending far more time at home that they usually did. It was consequently especially important to ensure that their home environment was pleasant. Given the smells that…