Coles boss expects more cooking at home this Christmas

afr.com:

Coles Group chief executive Leah Weckert is expecting more consumers to cook and celebrate at home this Christmas season as cost-of-living pressures continue to bite, in contrast to a splurge last year coming out of the pandemic.

Ms Weckert, who took over the top job in May, is hoping its seasonal offerings, such as value mince pies, Coles triple-smoked Beechwood ham, and Negroni-flavoured sorbet will draw shoppers into the nation’s second-largest grocery chain this holiday period.

Coles Group CEO Leah Weckert says more people will cook at home this Christmas as cost-of-living pressures bite. Louie Douvis

The retailer recently finished its Christmas survey and Ms Weckert said shoppers were looking forward to spending time with friends and family, but were seeking out value and will cook more at home rather than go out to restaurants and bars.

“Around 20 per cent of customers are saying that they’re going to be cooking more at home this year than they were last year,” she said.

“The cost of living is definitely top of mind, but what we’ve definitely seen both through what customers tell us, and in behaviour, is that everyone’s still enjoying treating themselves.”

Last year at Coles, food price inflation for the 52 weeks reached 6.7 per cent – although this eased during the year, from 7.4 per cent in the first half to 6 per cent in the second.

Ms Weckert said shoppers were looking to replicate meals they might normally have dining out, and there was significant growth in its higher-margin Coles home-branded products.

“Own-brand products are definitely outgrowing the rest of the store at the moment… in the premium tier as well as in the value chain,” she said.

“We’re definitely seeing… that people are buying into products