By Hort Innovation

Hort Innovation has implemented a bold marketing strategy to reposition Australian onions as not just an ingredient, but the starting point of every great meal.

Driving taste, versatility, and health

By tapping into taste, versatility and health benefits, the campaign will get more onions onto more plates, more often.

The campaign unfolds in four distinct bursts, each leveraging a different aspect of Australian life.

• Celebrating meals and the moments we come together – from family dinners to long tables with friends, onions have always been a staple of the meals and moments that bring us together, with their taste and versatility.
• Reflecting on Australia’s diverse food landscape, celebrating how onions are a unifying ingredient across cultures – whether in curries, sausage sizzles, pastas, tacos, or barbecues.
• Celebrating the winter season. As temperatures drop, onions take centre stage in soups and stews, with messaging focused on their significant health benefits.
• Celebrating everyday cooking as a way to enjoy tasty healthy meals, reinforcing that healthy food can be both simple and flavourful.

The campaign is running from July 2025 to December 2026 and is built on a clear ambition: transform Australian onions from a pantry essential into a flavour obsession.

Despite their near-universal presence in households, only 27 percent of consumers say they actually love onions. The campaign finds its opportunity in that gap between usage and emotional connection.

Last year’s messaging established onions as the base of great meals. This year, it’s about dialling up the emotional connection. The strategy has evolved to lean into emotion, culture and lifestyle. The goal is not just to remind Australians to use onions, but to associate them with comfort and connection.

At its core, the objective is to stay top of mind for the 8.8 million light buyers who cook 3-4 times a week, driving awareness, consideration and more frequent use – making starting with an onion second nature.

A digital-first approach

The campaign’s media strategy leans heavily into social platforms, where food inspiration thrives. Paid advertising on Meta has already reached 2.3 million, with performance tracking steadily toward key targets of the campaign. The next phase will introduce retargeting, serving fresh, tailored content to users who have already engaged and nudging them further down the path from awareness to action.

Meanwhile, TikTok is proving essential for reaching younger audiences, delivering an additional 554,000 in incremental reach to demographics unreachable on Meta. The campaign will continue to optimise targeting by using interest-based criteria and contextually appropriate content to expand reach. By aligning content with trending interests such as slow cooking, comfort food, and hearty winter recipes, the campaign ensures onions stay top of mind as the winter meal season approaches.

Influencers driving inspiration

Content creators have become central to reshaping perceptions. Rather than simply promoting onions, influencers are showcasing inventive, crave-worthy recipes that challenge expectations, positioning onions as a must-have ingredient for all everyday meals.

A standout example came from a Valentine’s Day activation. While one content creator’s onion tart attracted the most views (2.03 million), brand ambassador Mary Kalifatidis’ unique onion recipe garnered significant interest with longer watch durations and considerably higher engagement. Her Creamy Baked Onions recipe garnered over 19,000 interactions and more than 5,000 saves. The takeaway is clear: audiences respond not just to visibility, but to originality and versatility.

Earned media

An earned media moment highlighted onions as a versatile staple in everyday cooking, generating an impressive 19.8 million opportunities to see across nine pieces of coverage. To bring this to life, Australian Onions brand ambassador Mary Kalifatidis appeared in a live cooking segment on The Morning Show, with additional coverage extending online through 7NEWS.com.au and New Idea.

Strategic paid integration ensures high-impact broadcast placements while reinforcing key messages, and extending the earned concept into social media channels helps drive further reach and engagement.

In-store impact

Beyond screens, the campaign meets consumers where decisions happen – in supermarkets. The in-store sampling program is designed to convert inspiration into purchase, offering shoppers a tangible reminder of onions’ potential. In showcasing the taste and versatility of onions, shoppers are reminded how they elevate everyday meals.

Early results are promising. Between late January and March, 130 sampling sessions generated nearly 15,000 engagements and distributed over 11,000 samples. Recipes are tailored to the season, highlighting both red and brown onion varieties and encouraging year-round usage.

During this period, estimated sales included 5,485 loose onions and 1,384 1kg bags. Shopper interactions proved highly effective, with 76 percent engaging in sampling and 61 percent of those going on to make a purchase. These figures are indicative, based on estimates collected through field staff’s manual counts.

The winter push

As the campaign moves into its winter phase, the messaging sharpens around health and comfort. Onions are positioned as a simple way to boost immunity with natural vitamin C and elevate cold-weather cooking, backed by the surprising fact that a medium onion counts as two servings of vegetables.

But the tone remains sensory and inviting: the smell of onions cooking becomes a signal of something nourishing and delicious on the way. Australian onions are good for your body and great for your taste buds.

A new role for an old favourite

What makes this campaign notable isn’t just its scale, but its reframing of a familiar ingredient.

By combining emotional storytelling, digital precision, and real-world activation, the campaign is attempting to make Australians rethink an everyday habit.