Fruit and vegetable retailing - issued 2010

Industry overview

The main activities for businesses in this industry are the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables to consumers and other businesses such as restaurants and cafes. Other items sold may include food items such as dry fruits, nuts, milk, bread, juice and cheese.

Consumers are familiar with the price changes of fresh fruit and vegetables caused by seasonality and supply factors. In most cases, businesses are able to pass on any changes in cost as long as they remain competitive to other nearby competitors in terms of price and quality.

Competitors to the industry include supermarkets and general grocery stores which have been increasing the range of products they sell to attract customers.

These benchmarks do not apply to businesses involved in growing or wholesaling fruit and vegetables.

Performance benchmarks

These performance benchmarks have been developed using information on income tax returns and activity statements lodged for the 2007-08 income year.

The key benchmark ratio is cost of goods sold to turnover.

	Annual turnover range
Benchmark ratio	Low $75,000 - $400,000	Medium $400,000 - $1,000,000	High More than $1,000,000
Cost of goods sold/turnover	61% - 71%	68% - 76%	70% - 78%
Labour*/turnover	0% - 4%	4% - 10%	8% - 12%
Rent*/turnover	5% - 11%	4% - 8%	3% - 7%

*Notes

• Labour - salary and wage payments, including contractor payments but excluding payments to associated parties, amounts exclude GST.
• Rent - for businesses that have rent expenses. Businesses with no rent expenses will generally have a higher profit or interest expenses to cover the return or cost of owning the premises

Geographical trends

On average, metropolitan businesses reported cost of goods sold and rental cost percentages that are 1% - 4% higher than regional businesses.

Cash sales benchmarks

Cash sales benchmarks show the ratio of cash sales to total sales. Benchmarks are published for different turnover ranges and different average sales values.

The cash sales benchmarks developed for the 2008-09 income year have been withdrawn. For more information, refer to Small business benchmarks.

More information

For more information about small business benchmarks, refer to Small business benchmarks. For more information about your tax obligations as a small business operator, refer to: Record keeping for small business (NAT 3029) GST for small business (NAT 3014) Tax basics for small business (NAT 1908).