Australia

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Woolworths boss Brad Banducci has defended the amount of food the supermarket giant rejects with a top executive saying no one wants a banana that is "too big", a South Australian parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The state select committee investigating grocery prices is one of several inquiries currently underway across the country, including one being led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Committee chair Robert Simms grilled Mr Banducci and Woolworths chief commercial officer Paul Harker on Tuesday about food waste, mark-ups from suppliers and increasing prices amid cost-of-living pressures.

His response followed Australian Bureau of Statistics data that revealed Adelaide had the biggest grocery price increase in the country at 16.4 per cent between 2021 and 2023.

Last month, SA's vegetable industry association AUSVEG told the committee there has been an average 300 per cent mark up between farm gate price and what the consumer pays.

Mr Harker said Woolworths does not engage in the practice of flooding the market, where producers are pressured to grow more than needed, in turn lowering their sale prices.

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