The Woolworths AGM held this morning was anything but boring, with the annual meeting targeted by environmental protesters and activist shareholders for expediting the extinction of a rare species of fish.
This was just one of a long list of grievances that made their way onto the meeting’s agenda this week, with an ongoing ACCC action against the supermarket for misleading pricing also making news.
The fish issue
Woolworths stocks what it bills as a ‘sustainable’ salmon product, farmed in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour in cramped conditions.
It is being accused of bringing about the near extinction of a native species of fish – the Maugean skate – which has seen its numbers thinned out to an estimated 40 to 120 mature individuals in the wild.
The collapse of the species has been sheeted home to depleted oxygen levels in the water caused by fish farms.
The supermarket giant, which shares the Australian grocery market with rival Coles, seemed put out that the protests across the country only targeted its supermarkets when competitors also stocked the offending products.
“With Coles, Aldi, independent fish shops and restaurants also selling salmon from these producers, we are unsure why these protests have only focused on our stores,” the retailer told Yahoo News.
Shrinking Tim Tams
Also at the meeting, Woolworths chair Scott Perkins fielded a question about Tim Tams, which concerned shareholders pointed out were more expensive for domestic consumers than they are in the UK, where they are exported.
The shareholder was also concerned about pack size or ‘shrinkflation’ – the packs of biscuits are apparently smaller than they used to be.
“We work with our suppliers on all sorts of packaging formulations the whole time, but we don’t control the price of Tim Tams overseas,” Perkins responded.
Limited competition
The answer to many of the issues shareholders and onlookers have raised about the supermarket’s practices is that Australian supermarkets have free reign to do what they want, because of limited competition.
This will be examined in the case being brought by the ACCC against the two members of this near duopoly – Coles and Woolworths – for making misleading claims about discounts.
Referring to the action, Perkins said he was “disappointed with the ACCC’s announcement to commence proceedings” against Woolworths.
The ACCC has kicked off separate proceedings in the Federal Court against Woolworths and Coles, alleging the supermarkets have made misleading claims about product discounts.
“Woolworths Group is not perfect, and I am sure we will learn things from some of these inquiries,” Perkins said at the AGM.
“I want to stress that we take our responsibility on pricing very seriously in line with our Australian Consumer law compliance efforts,” he added.
“We track our price competitiveness closely and we know that our customers do so as well and have more choice than ever.
“If we don’t offer great value alongside quality, range and convenience, customers will choose to shop elsewhere.”
Unfortunately for the big grocery retailers, they’re learning the hard way that investors are consumers too.