Vegan options are shrinking at Melbourne’s eastern supermarkets. Here’s where to shop instead.

Croydon Hills mum Ida Kalajdzic has an extended family of seven mouths to feed, with her parents, husband and three children living under the one roof and five people currently eating a vegan diet.

However, she said she has discovered that some of her favourite vegan staples were disappearing.

🥦 What’s on people’s plates? According to data into dieting and food avoidance published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2023, 5.3 percent of Australians were vegetarian or vegan.

• Females were more likely to be vegetarian or vegan and people aged 30 to 49 years were more likely than any other age group to be vegetarian or vegan.

🤔 Narrow choice: Ida said she is now adjusting her buying habits after noticing options were disappearing from shelves and fridges a few months ago.

• 🗣️ “There used to be benefits of shopping at Woolworths, but I rarely bother these days,” Kalajdzic told the Eastern Melburnian. “I feel disappointed every time I shop.”

🌿 Plant pioneers: Ida isn’t alone in noticing the dwindling amount of choice.

• Vegan Australia managing director, Greg McFarlane, said their organisation had been “receiving increasing reports from people who were finding it harder to access vegan products in Woolworths stores”.

• 🗣️ “When vegan products are removed, hidden, scattered, inconsistently stocked or placed in marginal sections, vegan living becomes less accessible,” McFarlane told the Eastern Melburnian. “This particularly affects people who rely on mainstream supermarkets because of location, cost, disability, family responsibilities or lack of nearby specialist stores.”

🙊 No response: Woolworths did not answer the Eastern Melburnian’s questions about the availability of vegan products across its stores in Melbourne’s east.

• However, Woolworths New Zealand general manager for public affairs and sustainability released a public response, saying the company acknowledged the “frustration felt by our vegan customers”, citing slowing growth in the plant-based food category, a number of suppliers leaving the market in the past three years and a “poor and declining” sales performance.

So, where can vegans find more options in the east? Here's a few spots to check out.

Wholefood Merchants

This family-owned Ferntree Gully business is now Australia’s largest health food store.

Where: 3/794 Burwood Highway, Ferntree Gully

Eastfield Natural Foods

This organic supermarket located in the strip-shop precinct in Croydon South stocks vegan cheeses and plant-based proteins such as tempeh and tofu.

Where: 39-41 The Mall, Croydon South

Leaf Village Grocer

Launching in 2007 at a store in Elwood, Leaf now has stores in Armadale and Hawthorn, stocking a range of plant-based options, including meat alternatives, vegan sauces and dressings and nut butters.

Where: 728 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn