Aussie Farmers Direct is in strategy talks to scale up its operations in South Australia and Western Australia and extend its products range and online services. The online franchise, which delivers fresh food produce to more than 130,000 homes across Australia, was founded by former marketers Shane Hodskiss, William Scott, and Jordan Muir, in 2005. Muir was appointed CEO in August 2013 following the departure of Braeden Lord after five years in the role. Hodskiss, co-founder and executiv
ve GM of Aussie Farmers Direct, told Inside Retail PREMIUM Aussie Farmers has set its sights on building its presence and network of franchisees in SA and WA, predicting the rollout should take about 18 months.
“We’re eight and nine years old in the eastern seaboard states, but we’ve only been in WA and SA for about four years. It’s still a couple years behind the other states as far as the rollout goes, so it’s now really about recruiting franchisees there.”
Aussie Farmers Direct also intends to increase its product range and services in the new year following a pilot partnership with Victoria-based online retailer, The General Store, earlier this year.
As part of the alliance, The General Store offered grocery items such as pantry staples and cleaning products that were then delivered through Aussie Farmers Direct’s franchisee network of local milkos. This has now lead the e-tailer to discuss the introduction of new product lines which complement the existing offer.
Aussie Farmers Direct says it is focused on “renovating those learnings and translating them into a better offer”.
“It’s a bit of a watch this space at the moment. We have a number of strategies that we’re discussing and we’ll be making decisions over in the next few months.”
Despite the growing number of online grocers in Australia, Hodskiss says there is plenty of room in the market for more players and that new entrants keep the business on its toes.
“It builds awareness. Online is two per cent of the grocery spend at the moment, and that’s growing at 25 per cent, so we’re really trying to get people to buy online rather than the traditional methods.
“There’s plenty of challenges in fresh food but the number one thing is trust. With fresh produce people buy with their eyes, so it’s about building customer confidence online. In the fresh space we have to build our credibility and reputation in what we choose.”
Hodskiss said that as part of the new strategy, Aussie Farmers Direct tailoring offers to seasonality and also educating customers more about the origins of the produce.
