How to book in-store sampling in Australian supermarkets

At Coles and Woolworths, in-store sampling is booked through a central process, not store by store. Your brand, or the demonstration company you appoint, registers with the retailer first, shows its food safety paperwork, then books dates and stores through the retailer's own system. Coles and Woolworths both publish how theirs works on their supplier websites.

Here's how the process runs, what each retailer says publicly, how far ahead to start and what to put on the floor. Everything below about the retailers comes from their own supplier pages as we read them on 4 October 2026 (the Coles page is dated 12 March 2026; the Woolworths article was last modified on 20 June 2024). The fine detail sits in each retailer's own manuals and forms, so treat this as the starting point and confirm the current terms with the retailer before you plan around them.

How supermarket sampling gets booked

#1 - Decide who will run the demos

You can appoint a demonstration company to staff and run the sessions, or book and run them yourself. Both retailers below deal with either, but each registers them in its own way, so settle this first: it decides whose name goes on the registration and who holds the food safety certificate.

#2 - Register with the retailer

Coles. The Coles Supplier Central page on in-store demonstrations says registered demonstration companies or suppliers book with the Coles Supermarkets Demonstration Manager. If you are new to demos at Coles, you first complete a registration form. Coles also publishes Demonstration Company Procedures, which set the standards for demonstrating in its stores, and asks every demonstration company and supplier to read them. The page is marked as relevant to Coles Supermarkets and Coles Liquor.

Woolworths. The Woolworths Partner Hub article on in-store sampling in Australia says agency and supplier partners must first read and sign the In-store Sampling Manual (2023). The manual covers registration, event planning and activation, stock management, reporting, and the booking fee and cancellation schedule. Woolworths says to allow up to two weeks for applications to be processed. Approved agency partners then receive a customer number and logins; trade partners use their vendor number.

For other retailers, ask your category contact or your demonstration company how sampling is booked. We haven't checked their processes for this page.

#3 - Get the food safety paperwork ready

Coles states that every approved supplier or demonstration service must have a formal food safety program, audited and certified by an independent third-party food safety auditor, and that a copy of the certificate is needed before a booking can be made. If your demonstration company holds the certificate, ask for a copy early. Without it, the booking doesn't proceed.

#4 - Book far enough ahead

Coles asks for campaign booking requests at least 4 weeks before the campaign starts in store, sent on its booking form. Woolworths takes bookings through its online In-store Events Booking (ISE) system on Partner Hub, which covers available Supermarket and Metro stores nationally and shows when another event clashes in the same store.

Work back from the first session date:

• Registration, if you are new to the retailer (up to two weeks at Woolworths, by its own estimate).
• Booking, at least 4 weeks before the start date at Coles.
• Equipment, ordered at the same time as the booking. Our Retail Demonstrator table has a standard production time of 1.5 weeks from order and print-ready artwork, plus freight.

#5 - Ask about paid media options

Coles suggests talking to your Category Marketing Manager about its Coles Media Supplier Packages for in-store sampling. If sampling is part of a wider retail media plan, raise it at the same time as the booking.

Food safety on the day

Giving food away free doesn't take it outside the food safety rules. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) says that "'Sale' includes any gain to the business from providing the food, not just the direct exchange of money for food." Under Standard 3.2.2, food businesses must notify the enforcement agency, usually the local council, before they start handling food. Your demonstration company should know how this applies to its operation.

At the table, FSANZ's guidance on temporary and mobile premises suggests, for taste-testing samples:

• single-use utensils such as toothpicks or disposable spoons
• a container for used utensils
• signage to stop double dipping.

For chilled and hot holding, portion sizes and hand hygiene, see our guide to in-store food sampling.

The demo table and kit

Supermarket demonstrators usually carry their kit in and set up in a tight space, so a compact folding table with a header board is the common choice. Our product page lists the Retail Demonstrator as the most popular style for supermarket use.

• Retail Demonstrator table. 800 mm wide x 470 mm deep, 800 mm to the top and just over 2 m to the top of the header board. It weighs 7 kg, one person can put it together without tools in under four minutes, and it folds flat into a carry bag about 900 x 900 mm. The top has a raised lip to contain spills; if you cook on it, we recommend fitting a heat diffuser and splash guard. It costs from $304 plus GST, unbranded, with the header board, shelf and carry bag included. Our product page notes it is pre-approved for use in Woolworths stores.
• Branded wrap and header. A printed vinyl wrap goes around the front and sides of the base, held on with hook-and-loop tape, so it can be swapped for the next campaign.
• Vendor trays for roaming the aisles: 520 x 400 mm, with a surface that is safe for direct food contact, from $136 plus GST unprinted. We sell trays; we don't hire them.
• Branded team kit. Aprons, caps, polos and printed disposable cups from our supermarket demo merchandise range.

Prices exclude GST and freight. For a side-by-side look at tables, carts and trays, including the bigger Presenter and Superlight tables, read demonstration tables and sampling carts. We don't hire sampling carts.

Reporting on the program

Woolworths lists reporting in its sampling manual and says its booking system provides reporting and analytics for each event. Agree before day one what your demonstration company will report per session: samples given, sales during the session, stock issues and shopper feedback. Use the same measures in every store so the results can be compared.

If you're planning a national program and need matching tables for every team, call us on 1300 240 250 or see our FMCG display work.