Supermarket giants under fire over stalled deforestation promises

The Wilderness Society is calling on Coles and Woolworths to clean up their beef and timber supply chains following sustainability reports released this week.

Australia’s two supermarket giants have enormous power to protect nature. Yet when it comes to two commodities closely driving deforestation and native forest logging — beef and timber, Coles and Woolworths’ no-deforestation commitments are riddled with loopholes and dodgy certifications.

Coles and Woolworths are dragging their feet on their deforestation-free commitments across beef and timber. The supermarkets’ actions are limited in scope and leave significant gaps.

Sascha Hawkins, NSW Campaign Manager, Wilderness Society, said:

“We need supermarkets to ensure  their timber supply chains don’t come at the expense of native forests – and relying on the dodgy PEFC certification completely misses the mark.

“It is positive to see a major pallet supplier for Woolworths commit to 100% plantation sourcing by the end of 2028. Woolworths must not only rely on the progress made by its suppliers, but take decisive action of its own. The supermarket giant can do this by dropping PEFC.”

Emily Dickson, Queensland Campaign Manager, Wilderness Society, said:

“A year after committing to go deforestation-free, supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have released their latest sustainability supplements with no timebound concrete steps on how they will eliminate forest and bushland destruction from their beef supply chains. 

“Words won’t stop the bulldozers or save iconic species like koalas and greater gliders from extinction. As Australia’s largest beef buyers, Coles and Woolworths have a responsibility to ensure their products aren't destroying threatened species habitat. 

“The Wilderness Society is calling on supermarkets to deliver time-bound plans for full deforestation-free verification across their entire beef supply chains. We are urging Coles and Woolworths to provide timebound plans to implement lifetime beef traceability across beef supply chains, beyond just the last place of consignment. For Coles, this also means moving past supplier opt-in models and own-brand products.”

“Coles and Woolworths reported over $1 billion in profits last year - each. Pointing to technical obstacles is no excuse - delivering a deforestation-free supply chain is a matter of corporate will, not capability.”

The Wilderness Society is calling on Coles and Woolworths to urgently deliver on genuinely deforestation-free supply chains, close the loopholes in existing commitments, and put credible forest protection at the heart of their purchasing decisions.