CEO Brad Banducci appeared to crack under intense pressure this week, walking out of a heated interview with the ABC in a moment that’s since gone viral
The supermarket boss of eight years sat down with reporter Angus Grigg as part of a Four Corners investigation into the industry, as supermarkets come under intense pressure around allegations of price gouging.
The program asked how supermarkets have been profiting from rising prices and spoke with a number of key players, including Banducci and Coles boss Leah Weckert.
The allegations are denied by the supermarkets and have become the focus of investigations by both the Senate and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
“Rod Sims, the former head of the ACCC, says that we have one of the most concentrated supermarket [sectors] in the world, is he lying?” Griggs asked Banducci.
“It’s not true. [He’s] retired, by the way,” Banducci said.
The comment appeared to catch Grigg off guard.
“I don’t think you would impugn his integrity and his understanding of competition law. He retired 18 months ago,” Grigg said.
Banducci then began to appear agitated and asked if his comments could be removed.
“Can we take that out? Is that ok?” he said.
“I shouldn’t have said that about Rod, about him being retired. I mean, he is retired, but I shouldn’t have said that. Are we going to leave that in there?”
Upon being told that his comments were “on the record” and would not be taken out, Banducci said, “I think I’m done guys.”
“I do this with good intent, and I don’t do this with bad intent,” he said as he walked away.
“Really, you’re walking out?” Grigg asked.
Banducci then disappeared from view, reportedly to talk with his PR team. He returned to complete the interview a few minutes later.
Griggs would later call the move as “pretty startling”.
“I think it shows you that, there you have the boss of the largest supermarket chain in the country really unwilling to face too many questions,” he said on ABC’s News Breakfast on Monday.
“It shows how little scrutiny they’ve had over the years and I think that’s a really big problem.”
Supermarket prices have been under the microscope for some time now, with almost 40% of Australians saying groceries are a major financial stress, according to data from comparison website Finder.
That was a significant increase from 29% just two years ago, with Finder also revealing that a growing number of households are bulk buying and seeking out deals and coupons to save money at the checkout.
The full Four Corners investigation into supermarket price-gouging is available to view on ABC.
