Coles in court for half-baked bread

Supermarket giant Coles is in hot water after consumer complaints were made about its fresh bakery products.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has instituted Federal Court proceedings against Coles for claims the supermarket made about some of its Cuisine Royale and Coles Bakery branded bread products.

The ACCC alleges Coles promoted these products as freshly baked when they were in fact partially baked and frozen off-site, transported to Coles and ‘finished’ in-store at Coles stores with in-house bakeries. The investigation came about after former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett called the provenance of the products into question.

Claims such as ‘Baked Today, Sold Today’ and/or ‘Freshly Baked In-Store’ were likely to mislead consumers into thinking that the bread was prepared from scratch in Coles’ in-house bakeries on the day it was offered for sale, the ACCC claims. These claims also suggest that the bread was entirely baked on the day it was offered for sale, the ACCC said.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the ACCC alleged that some of the products were actually made in Ireland before being frozen and shipped to Australia. Others were initially baked in Australia, frozen and sent to different Coles stores throughout the country before being reheated for sale.

“There are two important issues at stake,” said ACCC Chairman Rod Sims. “First, consumers must be able to make informed purchasing decisions. Bread is an important grocery basket staple and customers need to be confident in claims made about food they buy.

“Second, and just as important, is the detrimental impact on the business of competitors. Misleading credence claims can undermine the level playing field and disadvantage other suppliers. In this case, those suppliers are the smaller, often franchised bakeries that compete with Coles.”

Coles’ ‘artisan’ bread lines were also often baked off-site, the ACCC alleges, while smaller producers and independent bakeries have actually made comparable products from scratch in their bakeries on the day of sale.

The ACCC is seeking financial penalties against Coles for breaching the Australian Consumer Law. If the ACCC’s case is successful, Coles would also be obliged to display signs in its stores and online highlighting the alleged misleading conduct.

According to the ABC, Coles intends to “vigorously defend itself” against the ACCC’s claims. The case will be heard in the Federal Court in August.