independent grocers of australia or (iga) for short, is the largest independent supermarket group in australia. it is part of the independent grocers association which has shops all over the world. each "iga" shop is run by the local shopkeeper unlike big companies such as woolworths and coles which runs all of their shops across the country. a company supplies all "iga" shops around the country and controls the use of the "iga" name but does not own every one of each shop. the independent shopkeepers and their shops claim to be "local heroes". there are over 1000 shops and three sub-brands.