Hardware Retailer Bunnings Denies Monopoly and Unfair Supplier Treatment Allegations

Hardware retail giant Bunnings has addressed concerns regarding its market dominance, saying it only accounted for a quarter of Australia’s garden plant market. This comes after farmer groups claimed that Bunnings had a monopoly over the sector and commanded around 70 percent of the market. They also alleged that Bunnings used its dominant market power to force growers into unfair agreements, resulting in significant uncertainty and losses for suppliers. However, during a recent Senate hearing, Laura Gaspert, an ethical sourcing manager at Bunnings Group, told the Select Committee on Supermarket Prices that the hardware retailer did not have a monopoly. “We understand that the greenlife industry is worth around $2.9 billion (US$1.86 billion) in sales. When we compare that to our gross sales, we expect it to be 25 percent,” she said....