Harris Farm Markets only major grocery provider in Australia to say NOT ON OUR SHELVES:
In a history-making move, Harris Farm Markets has eliminated artificial colours after a five-year process working with suppliers
“Anything artificial colours can do, nature can do better,” Tristan Harris
“To see my products on the shelves finally, it made me cry,” Chef Anna Polyviou
Something has changed at Harris Farm Markets. You might not notice it straight away. In fact, it’s kind of hard to see at first. That’s because something is missing, and it’s brilliant. In a history making move, from today, there are no more artificial colours on shelves in any stores across the country*. This makes Harris Farm Markets the ONLY major grocery provider in the country with this commitment.
There’s no more Erythrosine (don’t try and pronounce this one), no more Tartrazine E102 (ditto), no more weird compounds added to make food look more ‘appealing’. Nope, on the shelves at Harris Farm Markets is food as it should be – perfectly driven and coloured by nature.
Harris Farm Markets Co-CEO Tristan Harris said the process to holistically remove artificial colours from the business and introduce a new Sourcing Policy was highly involved. “For over 50 years Harris Farm Markets have been delivering goodness to Australian families. To continue to do this, we knew we needed to eliminate artificial colours from our shelves. So, for the past five years we have been working with our suppliers, to find new methods of production if needed and alternative ingredients if required. Now, our pasta sauces, dips, juices, peanut butter, cookie dough, curry pastes, chocolates, soups, noodles and even orange juices just to name a few, are all free of artificial colouring,” he said.
“Lots of suppliers told us they had wanted to take artificial colours out of their businesses for a long time, so our decision sped up theirs. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with suppliers like The Market Grocer, Koko Black, Fresh Fodder, Salumi and of course, the acclaimed pastry chef, Anna Polyviou. It has meant however, that some product lines have been eliminated, because we have to stand firm on our commitment.”
“We take immense pride in what we sell, and even more pride in what we don’t sell, and from now on, we don’t sell food with artificial colours. We are also incredibly proud to be the only major grocery provider in the country to be now artificial colour free.”
“Anything artificial colours can do, nature can do better. Nature’s colours are bold and beautiful – just look at our in-season tomatoes, a ripe orange, a freshly cut beetroot, a just-picked lemon or a full head of broccoli. Nature doesn’t need help making colours brighter – just spill some turmeric and you’ll see!”
“The COVID 19 pandemic fine-focused Australians on health and immunity, and has instigated a return to home cooking, which in turn has increased everyone’s understanding of how foods impact health. There’s more reading of labels, more questioning of provenance, and a much deeper understanding of where food comes from now. We applaud this; our new Sourcing Policy means a healthier and cleaner alternative for families every day. It means we are now both driven and coloured by nature.”
He said the company had been working closely with suppliers behind the scenes for five years, to support changes in production processes, to enable a continuation of supply relationships.
He also said transparency in 2023 was important. “In an increasingly hyper-sensitive price-driven economy, we want to show the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind our products and their pricing, and to encourage customers to embrace value, with values. Eliminating artificial colours, treating farmers and suppliers fairly and as partners, supporting ethical farming and food management practices, and championing Imperfect Picks are all key initiatives for us.”
“I learnt of Harris Farms’ Coloured by Nature commitment when I first tried to get my products on their shelves. By being knocked back initially, I learnt about Harris Farms’ standards, and if I wanted to be a supplier, I needed to meet those. It was a whole new ballgame for me and my team,” she said. “For our Triple Choc and Choc Brownie Cookie Dough products, we had to change the white chocolate we used, to one that was completely natural. Even though it was a tiny additive that was the issue, it was still an issue. It was the same with the Peanut Butter we used for our Peanut Butter Fudge,” she said.
“The team at Harris Farm worked with us, they nurtured us, they said ‘allow us to help you’ which was unique. It also started a domino effect, and made us research more about ingredients, and about the products that go into our products. The result is a product that is loved by everybody.
Seeing the cookie dough products in boxes on the pallets, and then loaded on the truck, and then seeing it on the shelves at Harris Farm’s made me cry. I pinched myself to make sure it was really happening. But it was and it is still happening, and we are proud to be part of their family, and part of the Coloured by Nature commitment.”
From SUPPLIER – KOKO BLACK
Remco Brigou, Product Development Manager from Koko Black, Australia’s leading contemporary artisan chocolatier based in Melbourne, said when Harris Farm Markets approached them about the journey to eliminate artificially coloured ingredients from their product, they had already begun their own journey to being 100 per cent natural.
“For us it’s very important that all our chocolates are 100 per cent natural with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. So, the Coloured by Nature commitment from Harris Farm Markets felt perfect for us. It’s a very important journey to be on, and I hope more brands can pick up this philosophy and make the world a better place.”
“The transformation to 100% natural was a very difficult process, even though many people assume it’s straight forward. It’s not. It required us to research not only our suppliers, but also the suppliers of our suppliers, and check that all their raw materials were also 100% natural – we had to trace back all the way to the source. It was very involved and challenging but at the end, very rewarding to have an entire range of products that are handcrafted with only 100% natural ingredients, and made with 100% sustainably sourced cocoa. One product that proved challenging was our popular chocolate freckles and their coloured sprinkles! We already used naturally coloured sprinkles, but through this process, as we refined our natural ingredients list, we uncovered an issue with the white sprinkle, so we had to find a new supplier that would make the white sprinkle 100 per cent naturally.
CALL OUT: “One of the most difficult replacements has been to find a 100 per cent natural Licorice that we can use in our products; one that fits with the quality and style of our products. So, our search still continues here to add licorice products back into our range.”
From SUPPLIER: FRESH FODDER
Fresh Fodder is a family-owned and operated producer of hand crafted dips based in Orange in regional NSW. Their famous Taramosalata has a near cult following. Managing Director Max Schofield said they had been a supplier to Harris Farms since the beginning of their business in 2008, and were on board from the moment they heard.
“Coloured by Nature is a fresh and brave initiative from Harris Farms and we are thrilled that our entire range aligns with their commitment. Ensuring our product range was free of artificial colours wasn’t too hard. We have always had a focus on using quality ingredients and the only product that had an artificial colour present just happened to be our brand hero – Taramosalata.
“The challenge in addressing the colouring was that we were not adding it, rather it was added during the processing of the Roe. Thankfully, through a great partnership with Harris Farm – who gave us volume of ordering for this product – and a great relationship with our Roe suppliers in Greece, where the artificial colouring was being added in the processing, we were able to have input around how our Roe was caught and processed.
“Our supplier actually flew in from Greece to meet with us, which gave us a great opportunity to not just tell them, but show them the quality and authenticity of our Taramosalata, a dip from their home country, but which is our hero product in Australia. They could see our family business first hand, taste our product and have no doubt that we knew what we were doing. This change elevated our Taramasalata and strengthened our business relationship.
“The product we use in our Taramosalata has always been derived from sustainable “pole caught” fish and now when processed, a natural colouring is added, where in the past it had been artificial. This gives us an important product difference in the marketplace, especially as our range of Taramosalata flavours are our signature brand line, and Fresh Fodder is now one of the largest importers of Cod Roe in Australia.”
From SUPPLIER: THE MARKET GROCER
Ian McDonald, Managing Director and Founder of The Market Grocer, one of the largest grocery wholesalers in Australia, said their journey to eliminating artificial colours meant they fought to find the right products.
“When Harris Farm Markets briefed us on their Coloured by Nature commitment, we found we had a lot of products that were going to be a problem, and we needed to start finding alternatives. So that’s exactly what we did; but it was a challenge to switch to the new,” he said. “I was concerned because a lot of our manufacturers are quite large, and I was concerned about taste.”
“One of our major products to Harris Farm contained MSG and when I initially asked the supplier to remove it, I was laughed at. That slowly changed to maybe, because I kept persisting. After a few years they came back to me and said they too had decided to be free of artificial colours, and they would start with our product. We got the product back on the shelf, and continued the movement!”
“Harris Farm Markets is at the forefront of understanding what people want to consume, and their commitment started us on the path as well. It’s a big consideration but we understand where consumers are going to be in five- or ten-years’ time.”
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