By Hannah Parry, Hort Innovation

With 53 percent of Australian households currently purchasing onions every four weeks, the Australian Onions Marketing Campaign is targeting 8.8 million ‘light buyers’ to boost purchase frequency and drive domestic demand.

Focusing on the pillars of taste, versatility, and health, the campaign is using cultural calendar moments to create engaging, topical content that keeps onions in the spotlight year-round. Through earned media, social-led activations, and an onions ambassador, the program seeks to improve consumer awareness, attitudes, and intent to purchase – ultimately increasing onion consumption.

Campaign activity and results so far

Funded by the onion marketing levy and delivered by Hort Innovation, the campaign was launched in October 2024 and has since achieved strong momentum and successfully kept Australian Onions top-of-mind for consumers.

The campaign kicked off with the announcement of ambassador and popular media personality Mary Kalifatidis, whose interview with 9Honey reached 1.1 million readers and helped amplify the campaign messages of taste and versatility. Mary also announced her Australian Onions partnership with her social media followers via an engaging video, achieving a reach of over 75k and 3,000 engagements.

Two major earned media spikes, aligning with key calendar moments, have so far driven strong visibility for Australian Onions, spotlighting their taste and versatility in home cooking, and reinforcing their role as the ‘first ingredient’.

Australian Onions Ambassador Mary Kalifatidis has hit 4.11 million impressions with her onion social media content.

Spike 1 – November 2024

Featured Mary Kalifatidis’ ‘Aussie Onion Smashburger’ recipe, inspired by the globally trending Oklahoma Onion Smashburger. Pitched to top-tier news, lifestyle and food outlets, 10 pieces of coverage achieved a reach of 3.9 million Australians. Mary’s recipe video post, shared across Meta and TikTok, further extended the reach of mthis media moment to over 880,000 users and delivered 8,000+ engagements.

Spike 2 – December 2024

Mary’s onion dip recipe reached more than 749,000 users on Instagram and TikTok.

Showcased an ‘Aussie Onion Dip’, a twist on the traditional French onion dip. Tapping into the cost-of-living narrative, the recipe was used to demonstrate how Aussies can entertain on a budget during the festive season without compromising on flavour. This moment delivered a total reach of 33 million Australians, with coverage across The Morning Show, 7NEWS, and top-tier lifestyle media. Mary’s onion dip recipe video, shared across Instagram and TikTok, reached over 749,000 users and delivered 7,000+ engagements and simultaneously educated consumers on the flavour profile of onions.

Overall, the campaign has so far delivered a total of:

• Over 37 million Australians reached via earned media (exceeding the KPI of 24 million).
• 21 media placements including standout coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘My Day on a Plate’, where Mary Kalifatidis spotlighted Australian red and brown onions.
• 1.24 million reach and 4.11 million impressions across Instagram and TikTok – assisted by a paid social strategy that boosted Mary’s content and branded advertisements.

What’s next for Australian Onions?

Looking ahead, the campaign will sustain momentum with an optimised media strategy and an always-on social media approach to reinforce the ‘first ingredient’ messaging and keep Australian Onions top-of-mind for consumers.

Key approaches:

• Paid social: ongoing Meta advertising from March to June 2025 will maintain consistent brand presence. Static branded ads will promote onion-centric recipe ideas, driving strong reach and awareness between major media moments.
• Owned social content: across May and June, organic social posts will spotlight onions’ versatility, seasonality, and health benefits, featuring all onion varietals. Recipe imagery will showcase onions across various meal occasions, helping cement onions as the ‘first ingredient’ and keep the brand top-of-mind.
• Ambassador content: Mary Kalifatidis will share two new videos:
  – A lifestyle vlog showing how she uses onions in lunch and dinner to highlight their versatility.
  – A winter-themed recipe video demonstrating her go-to onion soup, with a health-focused narrative.

Spike 3 – ‘Under or Over’ May 2025

To coincide with the federal election, the campaign will hijack the moment with a playful cultural debate: Do onions belong under or over the sausage?

Drawing on the insight that onions are the first and most nostalgic ingredient to hit the BBQ for every sausage sizzle, the campaign will showcase how to perfect caramelise onions – and confirm once and for all where they belong in the beloved sausage sandwich.

Ambassador Mary Kalifatidis and Alex Dawson, founder of the Democracy Sausage website (a map of sausage sizzles during election time), will go public with their bold stance – it’s onions under, every time – to spark debate. The duo will champion their cause with exclusive interviews and cooking segments on TODAY and TODAY Extra, reaching a combined audience of around 2.47 million. The campaign will also be brought to life through a BBQ activation, media outreach, and scroll-stopping social content across Mary’s and Australian Onions’ platforms, ensuring this debate gets hotter than the grill itself.