From Instagram page to app: How Supermarket Swap influences $3 million of sales

Supermarket Swap founder Nabula Brdar’s quest to identify healthier options in the supermarket started as an Instagram page, where the Adelaide mum-of-two would share her simple swaps of grocery products for healthier, additive- and preservative-free options.

Little did Brdar know at the time that the Supermarket Swap Instagram page she launched in 2020 would grow into a seven-figure business, complete with an app and online community, that is now influencing over $3 million of sales at the checkout each week.

The app, which shows when and where better grocery choices are on sale, was launched in December 2021, and three months later, Rebel Tidmarsh became a part-owner in the business, although she had worked in the business prior.

With Supermarket Swap’s online audience climbing towards 250,000 people, Brdar says she is amazed at how the online community has blossomed. 

“No one was really talking about the supermarket on social media at the time and I thought people would find it boring, but word spread quickly,” she tells SmartCompany. 

“I am very proud of the app. When we launched it I didn’t know how it would be received, but people jumped on board quickly. We now have over 60,000 downloads.

“The app was designed around reducing your mental load around feeding your family.”

The Supermarket Swap app lists over 2,000 products across the three major supermarkets that users can filter via dietaries or meal times to easily find products that suit their needs. 

Brdar says the app can also tell users when that product is on sale, to ensure that eating better won’t cost them more. 

“You can also browse over 200 recipes and create your weekly meal plan,” she adds. 

“My favourite feature is the fact you can type in any confusing ingredient or additive name and find out exactly what it is.”

Keeping it real

Often overwhelmed with the choice in the supermarket aisle herself, Brdar says she also found ingredient lists hard to decipher with their lengthy additive names and codes. 

“When I became a mother, I wanted to ensure that food I was feeding my family only contained real and recognisable ingredients, so I started reading every ingredient list and making simple swaps to products with zero artificial ingredients,” she says. 

“It was so easy to do, that I wanted to share it with others.

“As food technology and manufacturing has developed, brands choose to replicate real ingredients with a more ‘cost-effective’ option. 

“For example, a ‘strawberry’ custard might not contain any strawberry. Instead, it is created by the use of artificial colour and flavour. Making a simple swap in the aisle is a super easy way to improve the quality of what you consume.”

Growing a community

Brdar tells SmartCompany she didn’t use any strategies to initially grow the Supermarket Swap Instagram community, which currently stands at 203,000 followers. Instead, the growth was natural and organic. 

“It was unbelievable how fast Instagram grew purely from word-of-mouth,” she says. 

“It turns out thousands of Australians were also wandering the aisles a little confused too. 

“We created an app that would save people time and money on their weekly grocery bill, plus allow them to conveniently make better choices in the aisle, showcasing the features was enough encouragement for people to give it a go.”

The founder also confirms that Supermarket Shop is about to add low-toxic cleaning products and personal care products into its shopping catalogue, to help people slowly reduce the amount of chemicals in their home. 

“There are also some amazing enhancements currently in development, but they are top secret,” she teases.