Woolies Criticised For Discovery Garden Not Being 100% Aussie Made

Just when Woolworths thought it was back consumers’ good graces following the backlash of its Ooshies collectables, the supermarket chain has come under fire for its latest Discovery Garden promotion.

Woolworths is being criticised by consumers who are “disappointed” the Discovery Garden seedling kits aren’t 100 per cent Australian made.

Collectors of the kits have pointed out the bottom of the packs have a stamp that reads ‘Assembled in Poland from imported components’, with many taking to social media to voice their upset.

One user wrote: “Poor form Woolies,” while another said, “I am a little disappointed finding this out. Somehow it just seems to go against the whole idea of what the promotion is about.”

A Woolworths spokesperson said: “We always look to source locally first. Unfortunately, there is no manufacturing capability in Australia to produce the pot, the soil pellet, the seed mat to the quantity needed for this community program.

“So bringing Woolworths Discovery Garden to Australia was a global effort. All components have met strict biosecurity regulations to enable us to import seed kits to Australia. These have all been cleared and imported in line with the requirements for the Australian Department of Agriculture.

The Woolworths Discovery Garden limited edition sunflower seed is sourced from a number of local Australian farmers across New South Wales, while ten of the seeds in the full collection are sourced from Australia too.

Meanwhile, the soil tablets contain ingredients from Sri Lanka, but are produced in the Netherlands.

The seedling kits are assembled in Poland with components sourced from specialised manufacturers across the world, including Australia.

Despite the explanation, consumers are still not impressed with the supermarket chain, with one person saying, “I have friends who have a small business making similar pots […] I’m sure there’s [sic] lots of other companies that do the same thing in Australia.”

Other consumers have jumped to Woolworths’ defence.

One said: “You [sic] got to be kidding me. I swear people whinge about everything,” while another said some people, “are never happy”.

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