One More Serve of Veggies a Day Creates a Big System Ripple

If every Aussie and Kiwi ate just one extra 100 g serve of fruit and veggies a day, the ripple would be enormous. AUSVEG says, an extra handful translates to almost a million tonnes of produce, $3.3 billion in added value to the vegetable supply chain, 13,000 new jobs, and $1.4 billion in healthcare savings by 2030. In New Zealand, similar modelling suggests NZ$838 million in lifetime health savings and 94,000 healthy life years gained from just a modest daily veg boost.

If the average Aussie and Kiwi added an extra 100 g of fruit & veg each day, we’re looking at roughly a million extra tonnes in Australia and ~200 000 tonnes in New Zealand annually. That elevated demand would drive supply-chain scale, create new jobs, and deliver the health savings. But crucially, for that extra serve to happen, vegetables cannot just be a side dish, they must move centre table. That’s where innovation like LeaderBrand launching two flavour-forward salads (“Mexican” and “Rocketslaw”) in New Zealand matters.

LeaderBrand spotted a trend where one-third of Kiwis prepare Mexican meals weekly and responded with ready-to-eat salad kits bringing lettuce, cabbage and carrots together with a tangy Mexican sour-cream dressing or a peppery wild-rocket slaw. By making veg more convenient, more fun, tied to a popular cuisine, and ready-to-eat, they’re helping consumers hit that extra serve. That flavour innovation makes the “+100 g” goal more realistic, which means the supply-chain and economic benefits become more attainable.

On the supply-chain side, higher demand means growers need to ramp up - plantings, year-round production, processing and logistics all must scale. For example, LeaderBrand has invested in covered production to ensure consistent supply. On the consumer side, novelty and convenience reduce friction. A salad kit tied to Mexican cuisine doesn’t feel like “eat more vegetables”, it feels like “make a taco bowl with this bag and be done in minutes”. That subtle shift is key for hitting those big numbers we talked about (jobs, economic lift, health savings).

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