Demand for Australian natural and organic products surge during COVID
- Written by Tess Sanders Lazarus
According to Dr Mathew McDougall, demand for Australian natural and organic products has surged during COVID to the point where producers and manufactures are urgently ramping up capacity.
Dr Mathew McDougall is the founder and managing director of BuyNatural.com.au, an online sales platform and brand incubation business for natural, organic and eco-friendly products. With a focus on small, medium and regional Australian brands, BuyNatural partners with emerging brands to launch, promote, sell and distribute their products domestically and into export markets overseas, specifically China, Vietnam and the Middle East.
“Over the last six months, many Australian natural and organic brands have experienced an unprecedented increase in demand for their products across the country,” Dr McDougall said.
“In fact, BuyNatural eCommerce sales have grown month on month throughout this year; our Australian merchant partners are having to scale up to respond to soaring demand. Our eco cleaner category, containing brands such as Koala Eco and Tri Nature have had massive sales increases this year; over 100 percent or more over eight months. This can be attributed to Australia’s response to COVID-19 and desire to use fewer synthetic chemicals.”
Dr McDougall explains there are three reasons for the increase in demand:
Australian consumers are becoming more health conscious during COVID
“With COVID impacting our way of life, people are looking for ways to improve their health and wellbeing while cooped up at home,” Dr McDougall added.
“Australians are actively looking for products that come from ethical sources, are free of nasty additives and do not contain harmful ingredients.
“Digestive and gut health has the largest increase in our food and health category for BuyNatural. Many well-supported digestive-health brands and natural fibre products such as Qenda and Gut Performance have recorded sales growth of 20 percent or more during the past eight months on BuyNatural.
“Australian products are also known world-wide to be of high quality. We are lucky to enjoy clean air, clean water and clean soil and our manufacturing sector is highly regulated. I think Australians are really starting to understand how much better our products are than those that come from overseas.
“Why use or consume imported natural and organic products, when we produce and sell the best of the best right here in Australia.”
Australians are supporting Australian businesses
“The impact of COVID on economies including ours is really pushing people to buy local. Australians are becoming extremely patriotic in their spending. They are actively searching out products and brands that are made in Australia using locally sourced ingredients,” Dr McDougall said.
“People know that if they buy Australian goods, they are supporting local jobs and the local economy. Why send our money overseas when we need it here.”
Buy Products that Meet Australian Standards
“Australians tend to have very high expectations of quality when it comes to food, skincare, health and wellness products. For a growing segment of Australian consumers, quality now ranks more important than price for certain categories. As a result, Australian shoppers are more likely to find top-notch quality by purchasing Australian-made products than buying foreign products. After all, something that is made by an Australian company is going to strive to meet our country's very high standards,” Dr McDougall explained.
“Products that are manufactured locally right here in Australia are able to offer fast and reliable delivery. Many times, products coming in from overseas can become damaged or worn during shipping. This is another key reason Australian products can maintain a quality offering.”
According to Dr McDougall, while COVID has had a negative impact on many parts of our lives, it has also delivered positive outcomes in unexpected areas. Simple things such as working from home has become a mainstream practice, and buying local is now part of our shopping ethos.
About BuyNatural
BuyNatural is an online ecommerce platform and brand incubation business that works with natural, organic and eco-friendly brands to optimise their growth and sales. While they work with many Australian regional and small to medium sized businesses they look to represent the ‘best in category’ brands and maximise sales through their online platforms.
Their brand incubation programs are designed to build and develop brands in Australia and in various overseas markets, such as China, Vietnam and the Middle East. Aside from their BuyNatural marketplaces, they offer businesses easy, low risk and affordable outsourcing solutions, and warehousing, digital marketing, customer service and eCommerce management.
www.buynatural.com.au
