Tacos are now Australia’s favourite cook-at-home meal

MOVE over spaghetti bolognese and roast chicken, Australia has a new national dish, according to supermarket giant Coles.

Coles says Aussie families love Mexican food.

MOVE over spaghetti bolognese and roast chicken, we have a new national dish.

According to Coles, Aussies are tucking into tacos at record levels. Market data shows grocery sales of Mexican meal kits have grown by an average of 7 per cent per year over the past five years — more than triple the rate of the overall dry grocery category.

Coles says customers last year bought more than 1600 tonnes of tacos, burritos, enchiladas and fajiitas. According to Google Trends data, searches for tacos overtook spaghetti and roast chicken about 18 months ago.

“We have noticed Aussie families love Mexican food, and they love Old El Paso with its popularity growing by more than 10 per cent in the past two years,” Coles chief customer officer Simon McDowell said in a statement.

Coles is cutting the price of some Old El Paso products by up to 26 per cent. The supermarket is also cutting the price of its 500g beef mince by 8 per cent.

While sales and interest in Mexican food is increasing, a 2016 study by Ipsos found the traditional staples still dominate.

“Dinner is still our main meal of the day and our dinner choices remain fairly consistent with staples such as meat and veg or salad, pasta, fish and veg or pizza as our top choices,” Ipsos strategy and research director Kathy Benson said.

“Despite our fascination with cooking pop-culture in recent times, half of us see cooking as a chore or only as a way of caring for others in everyday life. And although two out of every three of us prepare dinner from scratch to create a healthy meal, there are still many occasions where we are reliant on ready and packaged meals.”

Last week, Coles merchandise director Chris Nicholas warned suppliers they would have justify any price hikes, saying they “will not just be waved through” without explanation.

Speaking at the Australian Food and Grocery Council conference in Brisbane, Mr Nicholas warned that every time suppliers raised prices on name-brand products, demand for the equivalent Coles Brand increases. “None of this is a threat or browbeating,” he said. “I’m just stating the fact.”

Coles is facing pressure from a resurgent Woolworths and an ever-expanding Aldi. UBS analysts say Coles is expected to be one of the worst performers over the next 12 months, while on Thursday Morgan Stanley downgraded Wesfarmers.

“We continue to think the Australian supermarkets industry is challenged, yet it is still highly profitable by global standards,” the investment bank wrote in a client note.

“The key change in the past 18 months has been the market leader Woolworths’ focus shifting from maximising margin to profit. Coles as the number two player is suffering and we expect this to continue.”

Woolworths currently holds 33.6 per cent of Australia’s $105.3 billion grocery market, according to IBISWorld, with Coles on 29.3 per cent, Aldi 8.9 per cent and IGA 7.1 per cent.

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