It’s been a tough week for Woolworths. First there was news that its Marvel Comic collectable disc promotion were so un-collectable they were fetching $800 on eBay.
Then late last week customers raged about security boxes around its pregnancy tests that had the potential to shame and embarrass female customers.
And now its sweet potatoes have sent customers into meltdown. And the cause of their ire? A pack of orangey spuds in a metal tray and plastic wrapping!
Customers have taken to the grocer’s Facebook page to register their disgust at the overuse of plastic and the potential damage to the environment.
The offending spuds were first noticed by customer Leanne Stokan who posted a pic of them on social media and commented, “Woolworths, we, your customers, don’t want this. Our planet doesn’t need it. Sweet potatoes can go from your shelf to my trolley to my kitchen without ever needing to touch a plastic bag, let alone a plastic tray as well.”
Stokan’s post from Saturday has since received over 2700 comments, mostly in support. However, Woolies penned back that “the packaging we use is designed to preserve the product throughout the supply chain and we make efforts to use our packaging as efficiently as possible.”
However, customers were having none of it, slamming the grocer for selling both plastic wrapped and single veggies and many urging others to abandon the grocery chain for their more environmentally friendly local greengrocer.
One customer raged: “I’m sorry Woolworths but this is dribble. If you also supply sweet potatoes in loose format and they survive fine then there is no reason to wrap them in plastic and then plastic again. Do something about this because it is damaging to your brand value and the planet. Also please broaden your cosmetic standards to shape and size of fruit and veg. Its scandalous how much waste you contribute to.”
However, Woolies did find one supporter. A Natalie Andonovska wrote: “People have nothing better to do with their time then to complain! We should be worried about the more pressing issues in the world!” Ms Adnonovska was suitably roasted after it.
