After years of swings and price shocks, food and beverage retail is settling into steady growth
Australia’s food and beverage sector is finding its footing — and, for the first time in several years, showing signs of steady, sustainable growth.
After several years of huge month-to-month swings – driven by the pandemic, floods and supply snags – food sales are stabilising.
According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics1, food retailing rose 0.9 per cent ($137.5 million) in June (seasonally adjusted), fuelled by a 1.2 per cent lift in supermarket and grocery store sales. By contrast, cafés, restaurants and takeaway food services slipped 0.4 per cent, suggesting that households remain mindful of budgets but are still spending at the supermarket checkout.
“I’d describe sentiment across F&B in Australia right now as guardedly optimistic,” says Ash Cooke, director at consultancy FutureFood. “There’s a sense that the worst of the shocks — cost of living, inflation, supply disruptions — are becoming more manageable, especially as interest rates stabilise. But businesses, consumers and investors are still on alert: optimism isn’t universal, and many are proceeding with caution.”
“I’d describe sentiment across F&B in Australia right now as guardedly optimistic.”
Ash Cooke, director at consultancy FutureFood.
That cautious optimism is underpinned by a sector that remains a cornerstone of the national economy. The Australian Food and Grocery Council’s latest State of the Industry 20242 report shows the industry now supports nearly 300,000 jobs, more than a third of them in regional Australia. Exports climbed 5.2% over the year, with the United States overtaking China as Australia’s top export market.
Numbers to know
$716m
The amount that Australians spent on protein powder in the first half of this year alone (the equivalent of $26.53 per person). The figure underscores a growing global enthusiasm for protein, which is increasingly being added to a range of foods from ice cream to yoghurt and even alcoholic beverages.
50 years
Cocoa prices are finally beginning to fall after soaring to a 50-year high ($12,000 per tonne), according to Trading Economics. Prices began to rise in late 2023 due to poor harvests in West Africa and are now settling around $8000 per tonne. Retail chocolate prices
50
Fishbowl has now opened 50 stores around Australia (and launched in the US). The success of the chain comes as other local fast-food brands challenge the dominance of overseas giants McDonalds and KFC. Zeus Street Greek now has more than 40 outlets, while Betty’s Burgers is about to open its first drive-through.
$2500
The value of food the average Aussie throws away due to unclear labelling. Research conducted by RMIT University[iv] and End Food Waste Australia revealed that many Australians rely on date labels and did not feel confident using their senses to test food before disposing of it. Many consumers find labels like “store in a cool, dry place” unhelpful given Australia’s wide climate variations.
Innovations
Cultivated meats
Lab-grown (or cell-cultivated) meat has gained regulatory approval from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) in June. The approval was given to Sydney’s Vow, a lab-grown meat startup that creates Japanese quail foie gras. Lab-grown meat is different to plant-based meat as it is actual animal meat, but grown outside the animal’s body.
Green alcohol
Spanning more than 800 square metres, Dan Murphy’s has opened the doors to its newest store, featuring a green refrigeration system. The Sandy Bay store in Hobart includes a system that uses natural refrigerants instead of traditional gases and features a building management system designed to monitor and reduce energy use.
Samoan cuisine
Samoan restaurant TALA has been named among New Zealand’s very best, receiving the prestigious ‘3-hat’ ranking at the 2025 Cuisine Good Food Awards. Only six restaurants nationwide were awarded three hats this year, placing TALA in an elite group and marking a milestone for Samoan food and hospitality.
Drive-through AI assistant
Healthy fast-food chain Oliver’s has introduced the world’s first “contextually aware” AI drive-through assistant, named Ollie. Unlike most other AI drive-through assistants, Ollie can take orders while engaging in unscripted, natural conversations and a range of accents. The launch of Ollie comes as other fast-food chains, such as KFC and Hungry Jacks, trial AI-driven order-takers.
1 ABS
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