The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer Perspectives
Prior to the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19, 70% of Australians’ food purchases were from supermarkets. Rural communities experience challenges accessing healthy food, which drives health inequalities. This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on food supply and purchasing behaviour in a rural supermark...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-01-01
|
| Series: | Nutrients |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/2/417 |
| _version_ | 1797406335442092032 |
|---|---|
| author | Jillian Whelan Andrew Dwight Brown Lee Coller Claudia Strugnell Steven Allender Laura Alston Josh Hayward Julie Brimblecombe Colin Bell |
| author_facet | Jillian Whelan Andrew Dwight Brown Lee Coller Claudia Strugnell Steven Allender Laura Alston Josh Hayward Julie Brimblecombe Colin Bell |
| author_sort | Jillian Whelan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Prior to the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19, 70% of Australians’ food purchases were from supermarkets. Rural communities experience challenges accessing healthy food, which drives health inequalities. This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on food supply and purchasing behaviour in a rural supermarket. Group model building workshops explored food supply experiences during COVID-19 in a rural Australian community with one supermarket. We asked three supermarket retailers “What are the current drivers of food supply into this supermarket environment?” and, separately, 33 customers: “What are the current drivers of purchases in this supermarket environment?” Causal loop diagrams were co-created with participants in real time with themes drawn afterwards from coded transcripts. Retailers’ experience of COVID-19 included ‘empty shelves’ attributed to media and government messaging, product unavailability, and community fear. Customers reported fear of contracting COVID-19, unavailability of food, and government restrictions resulting in cooking more meals at home, as influences on purchasing behaviour. Supermarket management and customers demonstrated adaptability and resilience to normalise demand and combat reduced supply. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:24:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e1e6df9ba1d3435b8a1377576c119d28 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-6643 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T03:24:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nutrients |
| spelling | doaj.art-e1e6df9ba1d3435b8a1377576c119d282023-12-03T15:04:22ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432021-01-0113241710.3390/nu13020417The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer PerspectivesJillian Whelan0Andrew Dwight Brown1Lee Coller2Claudia Strugnell3Steven Allender4Laura Alston5Josh Hayward6Julie Brimblecombe7Colin Bell8Global Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaGlobal Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaGlobal Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaGlobal Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaGlobal Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaGlobal Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaGlobal Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaDepartment of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3168, AustraliaGlobal Obesity Centre, Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, 1 Gheringhap Street, Geelong, VIC 3220, AustraliaPrior to the 2020 outbreak of COVID-19, 70% of Australians’ food purchases were from supermarkets. Rural communities experience challenges accessing healthy food, which drives health inequalities. This study explores the impact of COVID-19 on food supply and purchasing behaviour in a rural supermarket. Group model building workshops explored food supply experiences during COVID-19 in a rural Australian community with one supermarket. We asked three supermarket retailers “What are the current drivers of food supply into this supermarket environment?” and, separately, 33 customers: “What are the current drivers of purchases in this supermarket environment?” Causal loop diagrams were co-created with participants in real time with themes drawn afterwards from coded transcripts. Retailers’ experience of COVID-19 included ‘empty shelves’ attributed to media and government messaging, product unavailability, and community fear. Customers reported fear of contracting COVID-19, unavailability of food, and government restrictions resulting in cooking more meals at home, as influences on purchasing behaviour. Supermarket management and customers demonstrated adaptability and resilience to normalise demand and combat reduced supply.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/2/417rural food supplyCOVID-19rural healthfood securityfood supply chaincommunity-based system dynamics |
| spellingShingle | Jillian Whelan Andrew Dwight Brown Lee Coller Claudia Strugnell Steven Allender Laura Alston Josh Hayward Julie Brimblecombe Colin Bell The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer Perspectives Nutrients rural food supply COVID-19 rural health food security food supply chain community-based system dynamics |
| title | The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer Perspectives |
| title_full | The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer Perspectives |
| title_fullStr | The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer Perspectives |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer Perspectives |
| title_short | The Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Food Supply and Demand in Australia: Utilising Group Model Building to Identify Retailer and Customer Perspectives |
| title_sort | impact of covid 19 on rural food supply and demand in australia utilising group model building to identify retailer and customer perspectives |
| topic | rural food supply COVID-19 rural health food security food supply chain community-based system dynamics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/2/417 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jillianwhelan theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT andrewdwightbrown theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT leecoller theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT claudiastrugnell theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT stevenallender theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT lauraalston theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT joshhayward theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT juliebrimblecombe theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT colinbell theimpactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT jillianwhelan impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT andrewdwightbrown impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT leecoller impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT claudiastrugnell impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT stevenallender impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT lauraalston impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT joshhayward impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT juliebrimblecombe impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives AT colinbell impactofcovid19onruralfoodsupplyanddemandinaustraliautilisinggroupmodelbuildingtoidentifyretailerandcustomerperspectives |