Australia is home to a unique supermarket duopoly.
Over the last month, the two Australian supermarket giants, Coles and Woolworths, held their biggest corporate events of the year—their AGMs.
Shareholders, board members and executives gathered to hear about the companies’ progress and vote on critical decisions that will decide the futures of these multi-billion dollar corporations.
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But at both of these AGMs, there was a clear theme: serious concern for Australia’s environment, including the shameful deforestation that lurks in the supply chains of these supermarket giants.
The massive market share of Coles and Woolworths in Australia puts them in a position to really turn things around for Australia’s deforestation crisis—if they’ll take the opportunity.
Australia is a global deforestation hotspot. Which means we are one of the world leaders in the destruction of nature and species habitat. It may come as no surprise, then, to learn that Australia is also a leader in species extinction.
Deforestation is a key driver of the climate and biodiversity crises, and the unfortunate reality is that most deforestation in Australia is driven by the expansion of pasture for beef.
If we look at Queensland alone, at least 65 per cent of land clearing and deforestation over the last five years of government reporting (2017-2022) was to make way for pastures for beef.
Australia’s major supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, are the biggest buyers of beef in the country. And currently neither of them appear to be monitoring or actively removing beef sourced from deforestation from their supply chains.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of hectares of unique and world renowned Australian forests and bushlands are destroyed to produce beef that is potentially ending up on Woolworths’ and Coles’ shelves.
Until Coles and Woolworths commit to removing deforestation from their supply chains, they are complicit in Australia’s deforestation crisis.
If not effectively managed, the biodiversity and nature loss that results from unmitigated deforestation can, and will, become a material financial risk for the supermarket duopoly and their financiers.
I attended both the Coles and Woolworths AGM’s, and it was crystal clear that shareholders expect supermarkets to address risks to nature in their supply chains. Question after question rolled in about plastics, the impact of salmon fishing on the ancient Maugean skate, and of course, deforestation.
And that was only inside the room. Outside, rallies from various organisations formed, calling for these supermarkets to take action for nature protection. These corporations dominate market share and can have a far reaching impact on the state of nature and climate if they take the chance.
It’s not just activists either, research conducted by the Wilderness Society in August this year showed over two thirds of Australians expect Coles and Woolworths to make sure the products they sell don’t come from Australian forest destruction.
Unfortunately Coles and Woolworths have their heads in the sand. In fact Coles has failed to make any commitment to deal with its deforestation problem.
And despite Woolworths committing earlier this year to rid its supply chain of deforestation by 2025, the Chair of Woolworths, Scott Perkins, stated at its AGM, in response to questioning over the endangered Maugean skate, that the corporation is “certainly not aware of any other species in an endangered classification that is proximate to our operations.”
Tell that to Queensland’s koalas.