The wild moment an angry customer confronted Woolworths’ CEO about the supermarket profiting during a cost of living crisis was caught on camera.
Chief executive Amanda Bardwell was walking through a store in Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, when the heated exchange occurred.
A customer started asking questions after surprising the CEO and several staff members in the fresh fruit section.
“What do you have to say about the fact that your company is profiting from price gouging in a context of a cost of living crisis?” the buyer asked.
“Thank you for reaching out to us. We are doing everything we can to recognize that customers are having a hard time ensuring they can get great prices,” Ms. Bardwell responded.
Many Australians praised the young woman for her efforts.
“I’m sick of paying almost $300 a week on groceries. That’s choosing the cheapest products. My fridge still looks half empty when I open the bag,” said one.
“I’m sure Coles and Woolworth’s management don’t have a cost of living crisis as they get bigger and bigger bonuses year on year,” a second person wrote.
The university student confronted CEO Amanda Bardwell at a Woolworths in Wollongong
Long-time Woolworths employee Amanda Bardwell (pictured) was appointed as the supermarket giant’s new chief executive earlier this year after Brad Banducci stepped down.
A third commented: “Supermarkets are there to make huge profits. They don’t care about their customers, they never have.”
The young shopper went on to ask the CEO about Woolworths’ profits.
“Your company just bought an entire supermarket chain through a vulture capitalist company, so you can keep making lots of money while the working class suffers. Can you sleep at night knowing that?” he asked.
Ms Bardwell said: “Our team is doing everything they can to help our customers. We understand that this is an incredibly difficult time.”
“If you understood that, maybe you’d be willing to give up the billion dollars the company has been making,” the buyer replied.
A staff member was forced to intervene.
“We’ve lowered prices and that’s reflected throughout our store… that’s a great value for our customers,” he told the shopper.
Chief executive Amanda Bardwell was walking through a store in Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, when the heated exchange occurred.
Ms Bardwell thanked the customer for sharing her views and said Woolworths was doing “everything we can” to keep prices low for customers.
The interaction ended abruptly after the buyer and a man who was recording the interaction said it was illegal to film without a permit in New South Wales.
“Shame on you!” the man behind the camera shouted as Ms. Bardwell led the group of employees toward the back of the store.
Australians heavily criticised CEO’s ‘AI-generated response’ to customer.
“Isn’t the email text IN PERSON? Wow,” one person said.
A second wrote: “Thanks for reaching out.” Gosh, I should have just said, “Hope this email gets through to you okay.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Woolworths for comment.
