Coles, Woolies urged to create ‘Australian Made’ aisle to support farmers

It’s never been more important to support local businesses and farmers, and that’s why shoppers are calling for leading supermarkets to introduce an ‘Australian Made’ aisle.

The ‘shopping aisles for Australian Made’ petition which was created in April on GoPetition, targeting Woolworths, Coles and IGA has already amassed more than 25,000 signatures.

“It’s time to support local business making Australian made products,” the GoPetition reads. “Being so reliant on other countries to provide Australia with food, clothing, oil, steel and other products costs us jobs and leaves us vulnerable in uncertain times.

“It’s time to start paying a few dollars extra and supporting local business, which in turn supports us.”

The petition says websites can assist in finding Australian products but a dedicated section in the major chains “would make it even easier”.

“Imagine having an area or aisle dedicated to Australian made products, this would help support Australian business, jobs, and save us shoppers a lot of time,” the petition reads. “Let’s all get around this idea and push for the major chains to help local business making Australian made products.”

Responding to the petition, a Coles spokeswoman said they are aware of the importance customers place on buying locally-produced grocery items.

“As an Australian company, we are keen to support other Australian businesses to deliver great quality local products to our customers,’ the spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia. “To do this, we pride ourselves on having an Australian First Sourcing Policy, which means that we source Australian grown food wherever and whenever we can.”

She said that 100 per cent of their fresh meat and eggs is Australian made, while 96 per cent of fresh fruit and vegetables are locally-sourced and 85 per cent of Coles Own Brand packaged food and drinks are Australian. Further, she said that Coles takes its Country of Origin labelling responsibilities “very seriously”.

“Customers can easily find out about the country of origin of our Coles Own Brand products by looking at the ticket or label,” the spokeswoman said.