Every Purchase Counts!                                       

Some people are complacent about buying Australian products.

• It’s hard to know what really is Australian.
• The search is so time consuming.
• Many shops don’t stock Australian products.
• Australian products are perceived as more expensive.
• Buying Australian products seems too hard and frustrating!

That’s how my husband and I felt before trying to do something about the situation.

In July 2005 we started Only Australian Groceries, www.onlyoz.com.au . We only stock Australian made products from Australian companies and we deliver them to people everywhere. Some of our orders come from people in country areas and many come from consumers concerned about Australia. I guess country customers feel strongly about supporting Australian industries because they are Australian producers too.

My husband and I buy Australian in every aspect of our lives now. We only buy Australian grown fruit and vegetables. We only buy Australian seafood, poultry and meat. Even when we are organising car maintenance or buying clothes, hardware, alcohol or electrical appliances, Australian ownership is a large part of the decision making process. We know we are buying Australian groceries because we purchase from our own business while Ausbuy, Fightback and our terrific customers help us to stock appropriate products. I really feel we are doing our bit to improve the prospects of Australian companies, reduce foreign debt and improve employment prospects for our friends, family, children and grandchildren.

Who else is doing their bit?

I wonder if the Australian farmer who can’t find a market for his crops is also buying Australian to support other primary producers and Australian manufacturers? I wonder about Australian companies whose products are being removed from supermarket shelves to be replaced by foreign products. I wonder if their owners and employees are buying Australian to support fellow Australian companies? If we all support each other and change our purchasing practises to buy Australian in every possible aspect of our lives, we can make a difference.

Consumables are a great place to start. Are you buying Australian: cereal, milk, cheese, bread, shaving cream, toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet paper and tissues? Is your shopping trolley full of Australian products from Australian companies who pay taxes in Australia? Are you doing everything in your power to support fellow Australian companies, reduce foreign debt and improve Australia’s future? Of course you can say “what difference will my purchase make? I always buy ………. I haven’t tried the Australian brand”. All the purchases in Australia are made up of individual purchases like the ones you are making. Make a difference for Australia. Make every purchase count.

by  Katie Hooker

We need your Help
Australian commerce is in serious trouble. This is an inevitable situation for any person, company or country, which continually spends more than they earn. For over 25 years Australia has earned less than it has spent in relation to the rest of the world.

The balancing item for Australia s increasing debt is more and more foreign ownership of our key industries. If we don t fix our trading losses, we can t stop foreign owned companies from buying our best resources.

As over 80 per cent of our trading losses relate to interest, dividends, etc; ownership does matter.

It is only when Australians in enmasse change their spending habits, that our bureaucrats and politicians will follow our lead. Thus, we can only secure jobs for our kids by firstly changing our own purchasing attitudes and behaviour.

Australian owned companies need our support, simply because if we as Australian's don't support them nobody else will.

• Save at least $20 billion a year on our current account deficit
  
• Create at least 500,000 new full time jobs

Ownership of Australia
Over the last ten years all Governments have funded growth and employment by selling off the country. Clearly the only foreign investment that should be allowed is that which is in Australia s national interest. It should be investment which is added to our wealth, not just the takeover of existing businesses. Australia has the largest per household foreign debt in the western world. The sell-off of our companies must stop.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
"Are you a proud Australian? Do you support the green and gold?
Want to keep Australia strong and stop it being sold, give our kids a heritage of which they can be proud. Help our farmers come back from underneath a cloud. When you take your trolley out to do your weekly shop, look around for labels with the AUSBUY logo."
-Bob Carruthers

This information has been lent to us buy Ausbuy - The Australian Companies Institute.

Below is taken from the Dick Smith Foods website:     Why Buy Australian ?

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 organizations.

There are two key reasons to support Australian owned companies – profits stay in Australia and jobs are created for Australians. If every Australian redirects $10 per week from foreign owned companies and foreign made products to Australian, Australia would save $4 billion per year and create 100,000 new jobs. (source: Ausbuy)

 

Foreign ownership of Australian companies has doubled in the past decade. The money leaving Australia to foreign owners reached $12 billion in 1999. (source: Sun Herald 17 September 2000). The following list of Australian food categories list the level of foreign ownership).

Food Company	% of foreign ownership	Food company	% of foreign ownership
Abattoirs	80	Bread (major)	50
Baby food	100	Breakfast cereals	65
Baked Beans	80	Cheese	50
Beef Processing	75	Frozen Vegetables	85
Beer	50	Meat Pies	40
Biscuits	90	Pet Food	85

Consumer awareness of Australian Made

Buying Australian is much more important to consumers than Australian business believes. That’s a major finding from 1999 research to assess the importance of country of origin information to consumers and business.

The research suggests Australian businesses have underestimated the value of promoting the origin of their products. Over 95 per cent of consumers recognise the Australian Made logo and most consumers say made in Australia is an important purchase criteria, but only half of Australian businesses believe such branding is an important marketing tool.

The awareness level of the Australian Made logo is high, with 96% of respondents aware of the Australian Made logo.

The research shows some 91% of respondents have purchased goods with the Australian Made logo. The most commonly reported types of purchases made with the logo were food (25%), adult fashion clothing (20%), children’s clothing (11%) and other grocery items excluding food (11%).

Females were more likely to consciously look for the Australian Made logo than males when purchasing food, clothing and a range of other items.

The main reasons why people buy Australian Made products are:

• to create jobs
• to help the economy
• to support fellow Australians
• for the future of our country
• to reduce imports
• to help manufacturers.

Importance of buying Australian

Overall 89% of respondents felt it was important to them that the goods or products they purchase are of Australian origin. Some 19% of respondents considered it "extremely important", 37% considered it "very important" and 32% considered it "important".

When respondents were asked how often they actively sought goods or products of Australian origin, 12% said "always", 43% said "mostly" and 27% said "sometimes".

Awareness of the importance of buying Australian, and frequency of seeking Australian made goods, is higher amongst older respondents (35+ and highest amongst 50+) than younger respondents (18-34).

Country of origin research

Industry and consumer research conducted nationally by Sweeney Research on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science and Resources (in May 1999) found that industry underestimates the importance consumers place on country of origin information.

Almost 70% of consumers look for information about a product’s origin when making purchasing decisions. This far exceeds industry predictions. Of the businesses surveyed, only 55% agreed that consumers look for country of origin information when shopping.

The consumer research found that:

• Consumers look for country of origin labels to help them determine the quality of an item and to support local industry and employment
• Around 88% of consumers prefer to buy Australian whenever possible and 77% are happy to pay a little extra for Australian made goods.

Consumers are keen to know where a product comes from and are more likely to purchase a product if they know its origins. When consumers specifically ask for country of origin information at the point of sale 78% of those who receive an answer go on to purchase the product whereas only 45% of those who do not receive the requested information go on to purchase the good.

Importance of buying Australian varies with product type

Research shows that the importance consumers place on country of origin varies according to product type:

• 83% of consumers believe country of origin information is important when purchasing fresh food
• 72% believe country of origin information is important when deciding which packaged foods to buy
• 63% believe country of origin information is important when choosing clothing and shoes
• 63% of consumers purchasing white goods look for country of origin information
• 57% of consumers think country of origin information is important when looking at big ticket items such as cars, motorbikes and boats
• 51% of consumers still look for country of origin information on items such as tools and electrical appliances
• 50% of consumers believe country of origin information is important when purchasing household furniture.

• 64% of industry respondents show country of origin labelling information on their products
• but only 7% could accurately describe what ‘made in’ means
• and only 14% could describe what ‘product of’ represents.

Measurement of awareness of the Australian Made logo was commissioned by the Australian Made Campaign and undertaken by Roy Morgan Research in August 1999 and September 1999. Research results reported here are reproduced from the report to the Campaign by Roy Morgan Research. Results from the Sweeney Research are reproduced from DISR Country of Origin Labelling, Industry – Industry Fact Sheet available at www.isr.gov.au/labelling

This information was taken from The Australian Made Campaign website at:  http://www.australianmade.com.au/faq/factsheet/consumerawareness.asp .