‘Not a supermarket’: Bunnings boss resists being dragged into code of conduct

Bunnings will resist a Senate inquiry recommendation that it be placed under the same regulatory oversight as the nation’s leading supermarkets.

Bunnings boss Mike Schneider says the hardware giant should not be dragged into the supermarket’s Food and Grocery Code of Conduct. Picture: Peter Mathew.

Hardware giant Bunnings will resist being dragged into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct and placed under the same regulatory oversight as the nation’s leading supermarkets, arguing its sales of flowers and plants and some grocery items don’t warrant classifying it as a supermarket retailer.

The Senate inquiry into the supermarkets, which released its final report last week, recommended that the Food and Grocery Code be made mandatory and be extended to cover “greenlife” industries (plants, flowers etc).

The inquiry also recommended that any large retailer that stocks food or grocery products should be brought under the code. Both suggestions would rope in Bunnings, given its large greenlife offer and its recent push into home cleaning products such as dishwasher tablets.

The Senate inquiry it heard from former operators in the greenlife sector who made a series of allegations against Bunnings over its treatment of suppliers, including claims of price gouging and misuse of market power.

Bunnings has denied the allegations, and in a follow-up submission to the inquiry, detailed its responses.

It denied the more damaging claims made by greenlife operators and revealed new initiatives it had undertaken to improve its relationship with its suppliers of plants, flowers and other greenlife products, and to listen to any of their concerns.

Meanwhile, Bunnings chief executive Mike Schneider has warned against lumping it in with the supermarkets and placing it under the Food and Grocery Code.

He said that there could be unintended consequences of such a move, as was detailed by Craig Emerson’s recent report into the code.

Bunnings sells plants and cleaning products, along with hardware.

“We note the recommendations in the select committee’s final report but maintain our view that as the Food and Grocery Code was tailored for the supermarket and grocery industry by Coles, Woolworths and the Australian Food and Grocery Council, it should not be extended to retailers in other industries,” Mr Schneider told The Australian.

“We agree with Dr Emerson’s comments in the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct interim review report, that there could be unintended consequences. We operate in the home improvement, building materials and lifestyle product sectors, which have fundamentally different characteristics to the supermarket and grocery sector.”

Mr Schneider said despite Bunnings being outside the terms of reference, when it was invited to contribute by the Senate committee towards the end of its process, the hardware retailer fully engaged, making two written submissions to respond to the evidence from Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA) and aggrieved greenlife growers.

“We appeared at the hearing, responded to questions on notice and invited the committee to ask further questions if it wanted more information,” Mr Schneider said.

However, Mr Schneider did not personally appear before the inquiry, which earned the ire of the Greens-led committee when it wrote its final report. “The committee was disappointed that the Bunnings chief executive officer did not appear personally to give evidence,” the final report said.

In response to some of the claims made by nursery owners, plant growers and industry body GIA at the Senate inquiry – one operator said engagement with the hardware retailer was like being “slaves to Bunnings” – Mr Schneider said he had written to all of Bunnings suppliers to get their feedback.

“We highly value our suppliers and work hard to build enduring relationships,” he said. “On hearing GIA’s concerns, I wrote to each of our greenlife growers inviting their feedback as we know we can always learn and improve.

“We have engaged with many of them through the forums we run annually across the country and spoken with a number of industry associations. It’s been heartening to receive positive and helpful feedback.

“I’m proud of the relationships we’ve built with our greenlife suppliers and over half of them have been with us for more than 20 years, which demonstrates the strength of our commitment to achieving shared success.”