“We’re going to be living in this world where,unfortunately,we’re going to see material price increases,” he toldThe Age andThe Sydney Morning Herald. “This is a story of end to end inflation across the value chain.”
Woolworths has not only been weathering price rises from grocery suppliers but a raft of other cost increases too,Mr Banducci said,pointing to the fourfold increase in the cost of getting shipping containers into Australia and sky-high fuel prices.
The retailer will seek to absorb what costs it can,Mr Banducci said,but noted the company would have to work “very hard” to ensure it could give customers good value.
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“There are many[options] that we have at our disposal and we need to deploy all of them. But we also need to be transparent with our customers and acknowledge the challenge that we all face,” he said.
The warnings echo those of rival supermarket boss Steven Cain, who said on Tuesday inflationary pressures were the worst he’d seen for “quite some time”.
Mr Banducci’s comments come as Woolworths unveiled its half-year financial results on Wednesday,reporting an 8 per cent rise in sales to $31.8 billion as various COVID-19 waves across the country kept demand for groceries strong.