Whilst it’s no secret that online shopping has been growing exponentially over the past few years, clearly the global pandemic has marked 2020 as the pinnacle of that growth so far, prompted by the widespread lockdowns of cities, towns and indeed whole countries at times.  

With a mix of consumer fear of going to public places, and literal closure of whole industries including retail, people have moved a significant percentage of their purchases online, causing many large and small businesses to quickly move their bricks-and-mortar set up to an e-commerce platform.  Those that already had online presence needed to improve to stay competitive as consumers quickly became savvier, and expected more in terms of online experience with their brand.

In July 2020, year on year online spending grew an unprecedented 62.6%, and market research firm IRI Worldwide expects online spending in Australia to reach 20 per cent of retail spending by 2023.     

Whilst the in-store set up will never be completely superseded, omnichannel trading is here to stay. Retailers and manufacturers in Australia, and indeed globally, need to revisit everything that they have built up in the traditional trading framework and ensure that it crosses over to their online experience.

This is particularly important from a product safety and compliance perspective.  Whilst product labelling and packaging is still an important vehicle of information delivery to the consumer, in the online environment it is not the physical package that consumers use to make their final purchase decision.  The regulatory laws governing the safety of both food and non-food products, including the Food Standards Code, Therapeutic Goods Act and Australian Consumer Law regulations among others, have been created to keep consumers safe when consuming/using food and non-food items.  Whilst they get up to speed with the unique factors an online shopping environment brings, it is the sellers responsibility to offer an online platform that provides all necessary product information. This builds consumer trust, much needed in these pandemic times.

Many aspects of the online retail shift brings cause for concern around regulatory compliance, and retailers and manufacturers need to be mindful of their consumer health and wellbeing as much as they are about creating the bells and whistles.

Key product information consumers need to know include, perhaps most importantly, allergen declarations, but also ingredient lists, Country of Origin statements and verification of claims.  This must be clearly and prominently accessible to consumers as they shop online, and maintained as changes occur.  

Lack of traceability and food fraud are also issues that seems to be in part made easier with the online environment.  Globally, in the first 6 months of 2020, food fraud events have increased by 61% compared to the second half of 2019*.  Retailers will be increasingly looking to solutions such as blockchain to improve traceability and transparency to reduce food fraud incidence and gain customer trust.   

So called ‘dark kitchens’ have been rising in popularity since online food delivery companies such as UberEats launched, and even more particularly this year since the pandemic lockdowns, translating to an average annual market growth of 76 per cent over the past five years**.  These businesses set up solely to service customers of online delivery apps, without a customer interface or walk-in option.  This does not, however, exempt them from the food safety regulations that apply to traditional hospitality retailers and food service providers, both in their processes and procedures but also in label compliance for any labelled pre-packaged food product.

Mérieux NutriSciences has been working with Australian retailers for decades to ensure the safety and quality of their product lines.  Providing a unique suite of services, assistance is available at every step of the supply chain.  

Whether it be their JAS-ANZ accredited auditing services, dedicated label compliance team consulting on food and other consumer goods labels, or the vast offer of micro and chemistry laboratory services, tests such as pathogens, allergens, nutritional analysis, probiotic enumeration, water activity, shelf life and stability studies, Mérieux NutriSciences have all your safety and quality needs covered!  

Their Safety HUD program offers tailored monitoring of food fraud and safety alerts worldwide in real-time, and their partnership with Crystalchain offers a complete blockchain food traceability solution to further build trust with Australian consumers.

Contact the team at Mérieux NutriSciences for all your food safety and quality needs!  For more information visit www.merieuxnutrisciences.com/au or contact us via sales.au@mxns.com.

Our offices and laboratories are conveniently located in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. 

*Safety HUD, Mérieux NutriSciences 2020

** CBRE Australia, Australian Online Meal Delivery & Dark Kitchens report