The consumption of fresh berries is skyrocketing. Credit:Jennifer Soo "Shoppers are putting more fresh, healthy foods in their baskets, more often. It means the competition is set to get tougher as consumers seek out organic, locally grown options in lieu of pre-packaged and processed foods," said Megan Treston, director of Nielsen's retail industry group. The fresh food category, which includes fruit, vegetables and meat, represented a fifth of the $10.2 billion overall grocery growth from 2005 to 2015. Australians are also now buying vitamins more than tea or coffee in supermarkets, upping the number of purchases by 50 per cent to 7.6 million times.

Milk, chilled meat and poultry, soft drink and cheese continue to dominate grocery baskets, remaining in the top 10 for the past decade. Dietician Joanna McMillan said the trends were generally positive, but her most ideal basket would also be brimming with seafood and nuts and legumes. She said consumers should ignore claims by some anti-sugar campaigners, such as I Quit Sugar author Sarah Wilson, that fruit intake be reduced as it is full of fructose. "The sugars naturally present in fruit in fruit are bound up in the plant cell walls. Our bodies have to break these cells down to get to the sugars which can then be absorbed. Most fruits therefore have a low glycaemic index," she said. "Fruits are also fibre rich, which helps to slow the attack of our enzymes, plus vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals such as antioxidants. Whole fruits are more filling and satiating."

While bananas and apples dominate the fruit category, the Nielsen data shows fresh berries are fast moving up the ranks, surprising growers, retailers and industry observers. Jonathan Eccles from Raspberries and Blackberries Australia, which represents 200 growers, said production had tripled in the past five years. He said new varieties, expansion of production areas and better storage technology had meant the industry could deliver fresh local berries all year round, which in turn, sparked greater consumer demand. "It's only going to get more popular, as people begin buying them on a regular or semi-regular basis. It used to be a Christmas time thing, from the specialty greengrocers. Now they're in supermarkets 12 months of the year," he said.

Gary Mortimer, marketing expert at the Queensland University of Technology, said the growing focus on healthy eating was driven by reality shows, such as The Biggest Loser, celebrity chefs, and government-led health campaigns. He said Woolworths, "which banged on about being the fresh food people for 25 years", had confused shoppers with its price-centred "cheap cheap" campaign and lost traction. Coles, on the other hand, was successfully clawing away these shoppers with its new "Coles Fresh" campaign. "The supermarkets are responding to the health trend aggressively. Look at Aldi​. It's expanding its fresh food range because it knows if it doesn't, it'll miss out," he said. The Nielsen data also shows that despite the industry investing billions in advertising and many millions in targeted loyalty campaigns, grocery spending remained relatively flat.

In the past five years, the number of items in a typical basket has slightly reduced to 21.3. The basket value has not kept pace with inflation, sitting at $45.37, with total market inflation taken into account. However, the number of items in an Aldi​ basket has jumped from 16 to 21, reflecting the German-owned chain's rapid growth in the Australian market. Aldi​ has posted impressive double-digit growth in sales across most major vegetables, including 43 per cent for sweet potato and 37 per cent for celery. Kurt Hermann, spokesperson for farmers lobby Ausveg​, said Aldi's​ results were "above and beyond" overall sales value growth for most vegetables in the past year. "For fresh salads, for example, Aldi​ posted growth of over 40 per cent in both value and volume sales. Coles also showed expansion in both categories, while Woolworths actually lost ground," he said.

"We're pleased to see that this growth is set against an overall increase in sales value for most tracked commodities. With a vegetable-rich diet being a vital part of a healthy lifestyle, this indicates that Australians are making more of an investment in their health."