Coles expects 1m more Aussies to spend Christmas at home this year
Coles is gearing up for a record-breaking holiday season with close to 1 million extra people expected to eat Christmas lunch at home this year.
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Coles is gearing up for a record-breaking holiday season with close to 1 million extra people expected to eat Christmas lunch at home this year.
The supermarket giant unveiled its Christmas range on Wednesday as it looks to snare the festive food spend with prosciutto wrapped lamb, cracking pork loin with festive stuffing, roast salmon and spiced rum pudding with flaming rum glaze.
It also launched a new collectable campaign based around a set of stainless steel MasterChef kitchen knives.
Chief Steven Cain said Christmas stock was already being moved into supermarkets and its Melbourne warehouses and distribution centres were back running at full capacity with enhanced COVID-19 safety measures in place.
Victoria’s strict lockdown measures sparked warnings from grocery retailers in September that Christmas supplies could be impacted.
Mr Cain said he was confident the nation’s fresh food supply would meet the Christmas rush but cautioned some foreign non-food items could face shortages due to suppliers facing disruption to their international supply chains.
“From a food point of view I would say we are well served, we are very lucky here in Australia,” Mr Cain said.
“From an overseas perspective, particularly in the non-food areas, it is more complicated.”
Mr Cain pointed to research by investment bank Credit Suisse which estimated that international border closures will result in there being an extra 1 million people in the nation this Christmas compared to last year.
That, along with restrictions on dining out and general social distancing measures, is set to drive record sales at Coles, Woolworths and other grocers.
“I think we will have the best Christmas ever,” Mr Cain said.
“I think it’s going to be a special time. Easter was a bit of a damp squid this year with the first lockdown whereas I think we are going to have a long summer with smaller gatherings of family and friends at home and that is what we are trying to cater for.”
Coles under Mr Cain has built an offer around what it calls a “tale of two cities” as shoppers divide between those doing it tough and seeking out value and those willing and able to pay for gourmet and convenience items.
Mr Cain said that divide had accelerated as the coronavirus crisis pushed the nation into its first recession in close to three decades.
“It’s accelerating,” Mr Cain said of the trend.
“The federal budget will help and that is a good thing but we have to be very cognisant that there is a group of people out there who are unemployed, who are doing it tough. We need to be there for them and we think we have got some great value at the entry level on hams and prawns and those items.”