During our latest shop at Woolworths my wife and I noticed a dramatic reduction in the range of alternative meats. It has at least halved in options. When inquiring if the range would be restocked we were informed by the department manager that this was all they stock now. Disappointed, we walked over to Coles to restock and found the exact same thing had happened!
Maybe they are clearing space for more Christmas ham and turkey, I’m not sure.
It is a shame to see the range reduced as I feel it will not only greatly affect a lot of other vegetarians and vegans, but also makes it more difficult for those transitioning or trying to easily reduce their meat intake.
FWIW a number of Woolies ‘Cook’ meat products have also vanished from their shelves in the past few months. I am not sure what to attribute it to excepting if something is not selling in enough quantity at a sufficiently high price to justify the shelf space out if goes. In recent times my locals have obviously found inventory management challenging - eg moving stock prior to its use by or best by dates so it is not binned, and with minimal stock left near the dates needing mark downs to clear it balanced against prematurely empty shelves.
Locally at least, the shelf space once allocated to those items has been reallocated to new and sometimes interesting products; some may last and others may be ephemeral. The point is that shelf space is not being taken over by (say) just more mince or a ‘same old same old’ product.
Business’ business is maximising profits; profits are insufficient; ‘enough profit’ is required to satisfy the analysts and shareholders leading to a somewhat cut throat approach for their ‘floor plan’ of products.
It also could be so simple as you indicated, about needing more space for ‘ham and turkey’ as a seasonal adjustment to maximise seasonal profits.
A last comment is to ask if you checked other locations as they actually tailor products to cater to the preferences of local areas. What may have gone missing near you may still be available ‘across town’ - have you checked availability on the web sites or only in the stores?
Thanks for your insight. I will have to try the other Coles near by me and see what they have in stock. Woolies does still stock the products we like in other stores so we may just have to go out of our way now and then to top up.
