Richard Mulcahy, CEO of Australian vegetable grower representative body Ausveg, has accused leading retailer Woolworths of “churlish” behavior, following the cancellation of an appointment with international traders.
Woolworths this week rescinded on a commitment to show a visiting delegation of Asian buyers around one of its Sydney distribution centres, informing Mulcahy the staff allocated to conduct the tour were “no longer available.”
The delegates have travelled to Australia as part of an initiative aimed at ramping up the country’s vegetable export growth.
The move follows a week of tension between the supermarket chain and vegetable growers, who have been asked to contribute an additional A$0.40 per crate of supplied produce to help fund a new campaign featuring celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. This is on top of contributions they already pay for marketing.
“The Australian Government have identified expanding export markets as a crucial priority for the future growth of our industry,” Mulcahy said. “Woolworths are certainly not winning friends in the Australian vegetable industry, nor with customers by taking such a belligerent attitude on matters of such critical importance to our nation. Cancelling the visit is a retrograde step and represents a further blow to Australian vegetable growers who have already been asked to wear costs associated with Woolworth’s Jamie Oliver campaign.”
Last week, Mulcahy expressed fears the additional costs associated with the promotional campaign could add up to hundreds-of-thousands of dollars for some growers. He has since wrote to the chairman of Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission, Rod Sims, requesting the supermarket’s behaviour towards its suppliers be investigated.
“I also wrote to Mr Jamie Oliver pleading with him to ask Woolworths to refund money to struggling farmers, who have already paid for the campaign,” Mulcahy said. “I repeat my call for Mr Oliver to intervene in this matter on behalf of the hard-working growers who supply Woolworths.”
