Brad Banducci quits as Woolworths CEO after trainwreck ABC interview
Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci has left the supermarket giant in the wake of a disastrous Four Corners interview this week.
Banducci will officially step away from his role in September, a position he has held since 2016. Amanda Bardwell, head of loyalty and eCommerce, will replace him as CEO.
READ MORE: Woolworths say ‘external events’ had no impact on CEO’s resignation
“It has been a privilege to be a member of the Woolies team and one I have never taken for granted,” Banducci said.
“Brad has led a remarkable turnaround and transformation of the group,” said Woolworths chairman Scott Perkins.
The news comes ahead of a Senate inquiry into food and grocery pricing next month. Woolworths confirmed to Mumbrella this morning that Banducci will still front that inquiry.
Banducci’s resignation comes after he walked out of a Four Corners interview during the week, after asking ABC reporter Angus Grigg to cut comments he made about the recently retired former ACCC Chair Rod Sims, who he seemingly did not realise retired less than two years ago.
After Grigg reminded him he is on record, and urged him to move along, Banducci walked out of the interview, before being coaxed back to complete the trainwreck chat.
Sims, for his unwitting part in the debacle, was gracious when asked about Banducci’s critical comments, telling 6PR that the interview “raised a whole lot of issues that need to be looked at.”
“In relation to Brad,” Sims added, “I think his genuine point is that I’m two years out-of-date with the competition data.”
The Four Corners interview was the latest in a series of PR blunders for the supermarket giant.
Aside from the continuing charges of price gouging – Woolworths was the subject of three parliamentary inquiries in 2023 on cost of living, food security, and pricing – Banducci recently copped criticism for the supermarket chain’s refusal to stock Australia Day products this year.
Both national leaders have also taken shots at him of late: Peter Dutton called for a Woolies boycott, saying Banducci was “peddling woke agendas” and “trying to cancel Australia Day”, while Anthony Albanese took aim at both supermarkets, saying “when people look at the prices that they’re paying off the farmers, and then look at what the prices they’re charging … people can see there’s a discrepancy there”.
Banducci said in December he welcomes “the opportunity to explain to the Senate how we are working to balance the needs of our customers, our team and our suppliers in the context of economy-wide inflationary pressure.”
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Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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All power to Aldi.
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I doubt it was his decision…the interview was a disaster!
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It’s so easy to point fingers and throw stones at leaders, but the isolation and stress is real. Plus the pressure – most people couldn’t cope with it. So good for him to make a life choice to essentially say f*ck it – it’s not worth it. [edited]
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Regardless, this guy is smarter than the cumulative IQs of all those critiquing his performance.
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He was a bumbling clueless fool in the interview.. no surprise at all.
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About 6 months ago I cancelled our regular weekly grocery shop delivery. When asked why I was cancelling my delivery subscription I answered that we can no longer afford to buy groceries on a regular basis. Is this supermarket giant is listening now?
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Haha as if it was his decision.
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I would say that this is a good thing for Woolworths. This person would have disintegrated under a ‘Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Price’ setting where all comments are on record and under scrutiny
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The reality is, Woolworths CEOs were on ACCC’s speed dial since the BigW children’s nightwear fiasco back in 2008. Woolworths frantically re-vamped their Quality Assurance systems a number of times, the only result being ever-increasing numbers of embarrassing product safety recalls. This anti-competitive behaviour business was just the tip of a very big iceberg.
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