A view on Woolworths' corporate responsibility reportBY JOSH DOWSE | FRIDAY, 21 DEC 2012 10:09AMIf you eat or drink in Australia, you're likely to have been a Woolworths customer once or twice this year. If not, you may have bought something in a big box from BigW or Masters, as Woolworths pushes to match its doppelganger Wesfarmers in every sector. Woollies is a big part of our national furniture, and it matters what they do. Someone asked me to have a look at their 2012 corporate responsibility report. I put it on the list and now, crossing off my last to-do of the year, here is a view. It's too light a treatment on many issues, not least alcohol and farmer relationships, but there is still much to see. Related News |
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Credit where credit is due. Woolworths is making progress in some areas of concern but still walking both sides of the street.
It would be useful for Woolworths to benchmark themselves against leading supermarkets elsewhere Tesco, Sainsbury's, Royal Ahold to name a few.
Given their immense status I am looking to Woolworths to lead the debate rather than follow community sentiment.
Has Woolworths considering using rooftops to host solar arrays or providing on site waste to energy plants?
We are getting to sustainable production and consumption very slowly and large corporates have the power and the profits to move the goal posts.
Like many people I spend money consciously at both Westfarmers and Woolworths stores. A REAL commitment to sustainability would generate greater loyalty from conscious consumers and gain market share from swinging shoppers.
I watch the space and hope for leadership to emerge.
[...] published in The Sustainability Report, 21 December [...]