Coles sparks anger with single hot cross bun packages, despite plastic bag ban

Customers have hit out at Coles with many questioning its commitment to reducing plastic waste after a peeved shopper shared a photo on online forum Reddit, showing a single hot cross bun packaged in a plastic container – just months after the supermarket giant pulled plastic bags from stores.

Midway through 2018, the supermarket chain ditched its single-use plastic bags across its entire nationwide store network. Following the ban, single-use bags have now been outlawed in all states except NSW.

As seen in the image, the plastic container is labelled “loose fruit hot cross bun” and contains a single bun inside.

The post generated a slew of comments from users, many of whom questioned Coles’ apparent double standards.

“It’s hilarious they turfed the shopping bags but still sell s**t packaged like this,” one commentator wrote. “Guess that’s where all the shopping [bag] plastic went to.”

Another added: “It honestly irks me when I see them using plastic unnecessarily like this. I’m sure this could have been sold in a cardboard box.”

While some slammed the supermarket for its use of plastic, others suggested the complaints were becoming excessive.

“And? Sometimes you just want one,” one commentator wrote.

A Coles spokesperson told Starts at 60 the buns are sometimes packaged individually for convenience, if customers don’t want a full six-pack. They added the packaging around the hot cross buns was fully recyclable.

“In conjunction with REDcycle, Coles offers a soft plastic recycling program in all Coles supermarkets nationally. This year we were the first major Australian supermarket to roll out the program to all stores,” a spokesperson said.

“Customers can recycle plastic bags as well as a wider range of other soft plastic packaging that cannot be recycled through most household kerbside recycling services. Coles Online customers are able to give their soft plastics to their customer service agent who will return it for recycling through REDcycle.

“Since the program began in 2011, Coles has diverted more than 542 million pieces of flexible plastic or 2.1 million kg from landfill across Australia!”

This isn’t the first time Coles has received criticism following the plastic bag ban. The supermarket’s successful Big Little Shop campaign also got people riled up, as shoppers took umbrage with the hypocrisy of plastic toys being handed out so soon after they called time on free, single-use bags.

“To say I was flabbergasted at being offered plastic toys of shopping items just after Coles rolled out the plastic bag ban would be an understatement,” one angry shopper wrote. “This is heartbreaking, infuriating and I am mad as heck about this!”

Another added: “You have decided to give up the plastic bags for customers which is long overdue, and now you are promoting your own agenda for us to shop in your stores by offering free rubbish toys that cost so much to produce and end up in our bins. Get your act together Coles.”

What are your thoughts on this? Are customers right to complain?