AU: ACCC clears Woolworths of wrongdoing in Jamie Oliver marketing campaign
The storm started brewing in June when AusVeg revealed Woolworths had asked growers to contribute 40c per crate of produce to the marketing campaign on a voluntary basis.
AusVeg claimed growers had been bullied into paying for the campaign and asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate.
Woolworths maintained that any involvement in the marketing scheme was voluntary.
The ACCC said it contacted the 200 suppliers approached by Woolworths to fund the campaign and found “no evidence anyone was coerced or pressured”.
ACCC chairman Rid Sims said nothing else had come out of the investigation, which ran from July to November.
AusVeg maintains growers felt pressure to contribute to the Woolworths campaign.
AusVeg spokesman Andrew MacDonald said from the outset AusVeg maintained that many growers were afraid to go on the public record over their concerns about contributing to the campaign because they were “worried about possible reprisals in terms of their future business dealings with the supermarket giant”.
“This is completely understandable given Woolworths is the largest customer for many of these growers,” Mr MacDonald said.
“AusVeg believes further whistle blower protections are needed to protect growers faced with this situation, and has made representations to the government in this regard.”
Source: weeklytimesnow.com.au
