CEO Amanda Bardwell spoke at The Australian's Global Food Forum, which focused on supply chain resilience, natural disasters, and customer insights. Her views were also outlined in an opinion piece published in The Australian on 17 March.
Bardwell stated that supermarkets act as a key link within the national food system, connecting communities to Australian produce while relying on partnerships with farmers and growers. She noted that fresh food production depends on both farm-level innovation and supply chain resilience.
© Woolworths Group
She said the company purchases around 20% of fresh produce grown in Australia and processes about 10% of the nation's weekly beef, requiring relationships with approximately 2,400 meat, fruit, and vegetable suppliers. She acknowledged that trust within these relationships must be maintained through consistent engagement.
To support this, company teams conducted over 2,000 farm visits in the past year to understand production conditions and observe innovations, including the use of MRI technology to assess internal fruit quality.
Bardwell highlighted measures aimed at supporting suppliers, including 7- to 14-day payment terms for small suppliers, flexibility in product specifications during extreme weather, and investment in ordering systems to improve planning certainty. She also proposed that Hort Innovation publish aggregated wholesale pricing data to increase transparency across the sector.
She noted that food security begins at the production level but depends on logistics to reach consumers. The company moves approximately 30 million cartons per week across its supply chain. Bardwell added that disruptions such as floods, fires, and cyclones can affect transport routes, particularly given the concentration of production in key growing regions.
For more information:
Woolworths Group
Tel: +61 (0) 2 8885 0000
www.woolworthsgroup.com.au
