In Brisbane, Howard and Katie Hooker were so concerned about the lack of Australian products on supermarket shelves that they finally decided to start a grocery business themselves and stock only Australian goods. Howard, who has spend 21 years in the Australian Army and Katie, an ex-high school teacher now have a family and are concerned about the future of Australia. 

"I used to be extremely frustrated by the lack of Australian products in various supermarkets. I used to shop slowly with my Ausbuy Guide (www.ausbuy.com.au ) while I tried to buy Australian products. Australian products simply weren’t available!  I decided to start an Australian grocery store myself."

He wonders why he can't find a good paying job in Australia......  

Joe Smith started the day early, having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6am. While his coffee pot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), DESIGNER JEANS (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA).

 After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much money he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good paying Australian job.

 At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL) pored himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in Australia......

 It would be interesting to follow an average family through their day to see how much of their food or grocery items come from Australian farms and manufacturers.

If people could buy Australian products, it would help improve employment opportunities in Australia, help farmers, increase the amount of taxes paid in Australia, reduce foreign debt, and help other businesses because profits would be spent in Australia.

 I have to tell you that I became so frustrated at not being able to buy Australian products, that I started my own business: Only Australian Groceries. www.onlyoz.com.au   We are online and deliver all over Australia (or the world).

Now, we buy Australian groceries, support our local fruit and vegetable store (where we also buy Australian milk) and we buy meat from our local butcher who only stocks local meat. I know we are only one little family but at least we are doing what we can to ensure there are jobs in Australia for our children and grandchildren.

 Many great Australian products have disappeared from the shelves of conventional grocery stores. As taken from the Dick Smith Foods website: “85% of the products in the average Australian grocery trolley are made by foreign owned companies. This results in $100 million a day going outside Australia. By comparison, in Japan, 98% of goods in supermarkets are owned by Japanese organisations.”100 million dollars a day leaving Australia!!!!. This appals me. No only do the profits leave Australia but also many Australians are deprived of a job. At Only Australian Groceries ( www.onlyoz.com.au ) we only sell products from Australian companies so all the profits stay in Australia, Australians are employed and the manufacturers pay taxes in Australia.

 Some Australian Manufacturers such as Dick Smith Foods, Madura Tea, The Real Mc Coy Snack Foods, Laucke Flour, Cedel Products, Massel, Fast Shave Gel, Sanitarium  have been very supportive of our little venture. They have provided us with links from their website and helped us to get stock quickly and efficiently. It has been quite difficult at time though. Many manufacturers aren’t used to smaller businesses. If your name isn’t Coles, Woolworth or IGA and you’re ordering 100 pallets of soft drink, you’re not worth dealing with.

We have some wonderful customers though. We have regular grocery orders from all over Australia, especially New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Our customers seem to be helping us improve our business. They often tell us about products we should stock or how we can improve our website. The encouragement we get from customers and other e-mails is so motivating.

I feel we are helping other small businesses as well. People can buy their shelf stable products from us, then buy their meat from the local butcher and their fruit and vegetables from the local green grocer. It is like Australians supporting fellow Australians, rather than money going to big multi-nationals, leaving the country and increasing our foreign debt.