AUSTRALIA\u2019S recent population growth has been the key driver of a near doubling of domestic food consumption over the past 20 years, according to new ABARES research.<\/p>\n
ABARES Executive Director, Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds, said while a lot of attention had been focused on performance in export markets, domestic producers have been successful in competing for a growing share of household expenditure as our incomes have increased.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good news story of this research is that while household food consumption expenditure continues to grow, so do our net food exports,\u201d Dr Hatfield-Dodds said.<\/p>\n
He said average spending on food per person had increased from $2,950 in 1988\u201389 to around $3,780 in 2016\u201317 in real terms.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousehold food budgets as a share of after-tax income have fallen overall since 1988\u201389, flattening out in recent years,\u201d Dr Hatfield-Dodds said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe story here is not just how much we are eating, but what we are eating, and that depends on how much you earn.<\/p>\n
\u201cHigher income households have shown a willingness to pay a premium for quality food, while price is a key factor in the way lower income households shop for their food.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a trend across the whole Australian population to spend more on eating meals out and fast foods.<\/p>\n
\u201cEating out and eating fast foods now makes up 34 per cent of household food spending, up from 25 per cent in 1988\u201389.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AUSTRALIA\u2019S recent population growth has been the key driver of a near doubling of domestic food consumption over the past 20 years, according to new ABARES research. ABARES Executive Director, Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds, said while a lot of attention had been focused on performance in export markets, domestic producers have been successful in competing for […]<\/p>\n