Wild moment a no-nonsense Aussie shopper confronts the Woolworths CEO at a busy supermarket: ‘Vulture’

The wild moment an angry customer confronted the Woolworths CEO about the supermarket’s profits during the cost of living crisis was caught on camera.

General Manager Amanda Bardwell was walking around a store in Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, when the heated exchange took place.

A customer started asking questions after confronting the CEO and some staff members in the fresh produce department.

“What do you think about your company profiting from excessive prices at a time when the cost of living is so high?” the customer asked.

“Thank you for contacting us. We do everything we can to recognise that customers are struggling to ensure they get great prices,” Ms Bardwell replied.

Many Australians praised the young woman for her efforts.

“I’m tired of paying almost $300 a week for groceries. That’s choosing the cheapest products. My fridge still looks half empty when I unpack,” said one.

“I am sure Coles and Woolworth management are not in a cost of living crisis as they are getting bigger and bigger bonuses every year,” wrote a second.

Amanda Bardwell (pictured), a long-time Woolworths employee, was appointed the supermarket giant’s new CEO earlier this year after Brad Banducci stepped down

A third said: ‘The supermarkets do it to make huge profits. They don’t care about their customers, they never have.’

The young customer continued to question the CEO about Woolworths’ profits.

“Your company just bought an entire additional supermarket chain through a predatory capitalist enterprise so you can continue to make vast sums of money while the working class suffers. Can you sleep at night knowing that?” she asked.

Ms Bardwell responded: ‘Our team is doing everything we can to support our customers. We understand that this is an incredibly difficult time.’

“If you understood that, you might be willing to give up the billion dollars the company makes,” the customer replied.

A staff member had to intervene.

“We’ve lowered the prices and you can see that throughout our store. It’s a great value for our customers,” she told the shopper.

Chief Executive Amanda Bardwell was walking around a store in Wollongong, in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, when the heated exchange took place

Ms Bardwell thanked the customer for sharing her views and said Woolworths was ‘doing everything we can’ to keep prices low for customers.

The conversation ended abruptly after the customer and a man filming the conversation pointed out that it was illegal to film without permission in NSW.

“Shame,” shouted the man behind the camera as Mrs Bardwell led the group of staff to the back of the store.

Australians criticised CEO’s ‘AI-generated response’ to customer.

“Not the literal email PERSONALLY? Wow,” someone said.

A second wrote: ‘Thanks for reaching out to us. OMG she should have just said ‘I hope you’re okay with this email.’

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Woolworths for comment.