FEATURE plus one serve

A small change making a big difference

How a simple national push is helping shoppers choose more veg and supporting growers along the way.

Words Anitra Stene, Marketing & Communications Co-ordinator, vegetablesWA

IF you’re in the veg game, you’ve probably felt the pinch lately. Fewer veggies in trolleys means tighter margins, tougher decisions, and a whole lot of uncertainty about where things are heading. And when you hear that only 6.5% of Australians are hitting their five-plus serves a day (the recommended vegetable intake), it suddenly makes sense why demand feels like it’s slipping through the cracks.

On average, we’re only eating 1.8 serves a day, not even half of what we should be. And with national data showing that only 6.5% of Australians are meeting the recommended five plus serves, it’s clear this isn’t just a ‘nutrition issue’. It’s a stress point for growers, retailers, families, and the whole fresh food chain. With lower consumption now contributing to billions in lost value, shrinking grower returns and rising public health costs, as chronic diseases and hospital admissions increase. Less veg eaten means less veg bought. And that’s a cycle none of us can afford to keep spinning.

That’s where the Plus One Serve by 2030 initiative steps in. The idea is simple — help Australians eat one more serve of vegetables every day. Just 75 grams. A handful. A bit extra on the plate. And if the country does that, the flow‑on effects are huge, leading to stronger sales, healthier households, and more stability for the people growing the stuff in the first place.

Every dollar invested in the Plus One Serve campaign will deliver a $12.30 return.

“ We can’t just grow vegetables — we need to grow demand. ”

Grower comment at a VegNET farm day

But the real magic happens in one key place — retail. Around 82% of veg purchases happen in supermarkets, greengrocers and fresh markets. That means how vegetables are displayed, priced, packaged, promoted and explained makes a big difference to whether a shopper leaves with one zucchini…or six!

So the team behind Plus One Serve has built the Retail Setting Action Plan, a practical, realworld roadmap designed alongside retailers, growers, researchers and health experts. It focuses on five straightforward ideas — showing value clearly, making it easy, boosting shopper confidence, talking about health in a relatable way, and giving vegetables prime real estate in the aisle.

“ Nutritional-per-serve pricing gives consumers a clear and meaningful way to understand both value and recommended dietary intake… ”

Justine Coates, Managing Director, Plus One Serve, AUSVEG

One standout example comes from a trial in Ritchies IGA over east, where researchers tested a simple idea — showing the price per kilogram and the price per 75g serve. The result? Shoppers bought considerably more veg, with semi regular shoppers purchasing an additional 46.3g per day (+25.7%) and ever shoppers adding 60.6g per day (+28.4%).

It’s the kind of shift the horticultural industry desperately needs right now, driving volume in a way that supports growers rather than squeezing their margins further (and importantly, helping improve consumer health).

“ When shoppers can see the true value of vegetables, they buy more of them. It’s a simple shift that delivers real results. ”

Associate Professor Fiona Newton, Monash Business School

There are so many practical ways growers can get involved, through actions such as new pack formats, seasonal activations, bundles, mealsolutions, or simply sharing the story behind the crop. Every part helps make vegetables the easy, everyday choice again.

At the end of the day, this isn’t just about health advice or shopper behaviour. It’s about building a stable, sustainable, thriving vegetable industry — one extra serve at a time.

Sources

Retail initiative helping to put more vegetables in Aussie shoppers’ baskets — Plus One Serve (Plus One Serve / AUSVEG): www.plusoneserve.com.au/retail-initiative-helping-to-put-more-vegetables-in-aussie-shoppers-baskets

Plus One Serve launches Retail Setting Action Plan by Michelle Lausen, Program Manager, Plus One Serve by 2030 (Published by AUSVEG): https://ausveg.com.au/knowledge-hub/plus-one-serve-launches-retail-setting-action-plan/