'Shame on you': Woman outraged by discovery in Woolworths' fruit section
A woman has condemned supermarket giant Woolworths for throwing out “perfectly good” bananas, saying the act was “ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING”.
The woman shared a photo of bunches of ripe bananas sitting in a bin in a store’s fruit aisle to Woolworths’ Facebook page this week.
“Shame on you Woolworths at Majura Park in Canberra!!!” she wrote, adding that an employee told her the binned bananas were being thrown away.
“We are in fire central (as a matter of fact there was a fire across the road last week!) and are asking the community to donate fruit and veg for the wildlife but obviously they only want the fruit and veg that the public buys to be donated!!”
The woman then urged shoppers to check the bins in fruit and vegetable aisles next time they are in a Woolworths store.
She questioned whether Woolworths “even cares” about the community.
“I thought these bananas were meant to go into the banana bread Woolworths bakes?” one person commented online, saying it was advertised in the latest catalogue.
Woolworths responded to the woman’s Facebook post and thanked her for getting in touch.
“Unfortunately with the warmer weather a number of bananas become overripe and are not fit for sale,” Woolworths said.
“Although these are placed in a "rubbish bin", we assure you they are not going to landfill.
“We are a part of a number of programs designed to reduce food waste and our Majura Park team have let us know these bananas were collected by a local farmer for their livestock.”
Woolworths has a Farmer Donation program that partners with 600 farmers and community groups to supply those in need with fruit and vegetables, produce off-cuts, and surplus baked goods for animal feed or composting.
“Our Farmer Donation program saw more than 30 million kilograms of surplus produce and bakery waste donated to local farmers, dozens of zoos and animal rescue and welfare centres last year,” a Woolworths spokesperson perviously told Yahoo News Australia in a statement.
On the Facebook post, Woolworths also confirmed they have begun using excess bananas to make banana bread.
Two varieties of bread - traditional banana bread and chocolate chip made with Cadbury chocolate - are now available for $4 from select locations.
Part of the proceeds will go toward OzHarvest, which delivers directly to 1300 charities around the country, helping the more than four million Australians who suffer from food insecurity.
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