Coles slapped with 3-year fresh bread advertising ban

Coles has been slapped with a 3-year ban on advertising its bread as being freshly baked in-store. The ruling comes after revelations that some of its ‘fresh’ bread products were in fact par-baked in Denmark, Germany and Ireland months before being shipped frozen to Australia and ‘finished’ in Coles stores.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) instituted Federal Court proceedings against Coles in June 2013. The bread products were advertised as being ‘Baked Today, Sold Today’ and/or ‘Freshly Baked In-Store’.

The Federal Court ruled that Coles refrain from representing that its bread products are entirely baked on the same day as they are sold or that they were baked from fresh dough. The company will also have to display a Corrective Notice in a prominent location in each in-store bakery section of each Coles Bakery Store in Australia, plus publish the Corrective Notice on its website.

Coles has also been ordered to pay the ACCC’s costs. The Federal Court has not yet decided whether to fine Coles for several contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law.