Australia’s consumer watchdog has launched Federal Court proceedings against burger chain Grill’d, alleging the company misled customers about a promotional campaign that promised to plant a tree for every burger bought on Tuesdays.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission filed proceedings against the company on Tuesday, 16 June, alleging that Grill’d made false or misleading representations in breach of the Australian Consumer Law through its “Tree Day Tuesday” promotion, which ran from January 2021 to April 2024.
The ACCC alleges the promotion suggested that $1 from every burger purchased on a Tuesday would go towards planting trees, but in reality only a small fraction of purchases ever qualified.
“We allege Grill’d misled customers by overstating the extent of the donations it would make and the environmental contributions from its Tree Day Tuesday promotion. We consider this to be a form of greenwashing,” said ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
To qualify for a donation, a customer had to meet seven separate conditions: the purchase had to be a dine-in main item such as a burger or salad, ordered at the front counter rather than via a QR code at the table, paid for without any other offer applied, made while logged into Grill’d’s Relish loyalty program, with the loyalty barcode scanned at the time of ordering. Takeaway, online orders and delivery purchases did not qualify.
Of more than five million burgers bought on Tuesdays during the promotion period, only around four per cent qualified for a donation. Even among Relish loyalty members, who were the only customers eligible at all, just 17 per cent of Tuesday purchases met the full conditions.
“In fact, only a small percentage of purchases on Tuesdays qualified for a donation by Grill’d because of the detailed conditions of the promotion, which we say were not disclosed or not adequately disclosed to customers,” said Ms Cass-Gottlieb.
The ACCC’s case covers 26 separate Grill’d advertisements across social media, online and in-store. Among the claims the regulator alleges were misleading: “Grow-A-Grill’d Forest. For every Tuesday Grill’d burg purchase, $1 goes towards planting a tree,” which appeared on the company’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
Another Facebook post read: “You can help us grow our 100-year protected forest by buying a burger today. A burger for you, a baby tree for the planet.”
Grill’d operates around 173 stores across Australia and markets itself as a business focused on sustainability and community contribution. The Tree Day Tuesday campaign was run in partnership with Greenfleet Trust, an environmental not-for-profit organisation.
For North Coast residents who visited a Grill’d outlet on a Tuesday during those three years, the chances of their purchase triggering a donation were slim unless they knew to tick every box on a list of conditions most ads did not spell out.
Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the size and reach of the company made the conduct more serious.
“Grill’d is a large fast-food chain and operates across Australia, meaning that its conduct had the potential to mislead many consumers nationwide about the environmental benefits of their purchase,” she said.
The ACCC also raised concerns about competitive fairness, arguing the promotion may have drawn in customers who cared about the environment and given Grill’d an edge over rivals who were not making similar claims.
“We allege that Grill’d deprived consumers of the ability to make an informed decision by overstating the circumstances in which it would make a donation to an environmental cause, which may also have given Grill’d an unfair competitive advantage,” said Ms Cass-Gottlieb.
The case is the latest in a series of greenwashing enforcement actions by the ACCC. Earlier action against Clorox Australia resulted in an $8.25 million penalty handed down by the Federal Court. Proceedings against Edgewell and Australian Gas Networks are also ongoing.
The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, costs and other orders. The matter was referred to the regulator by an anonymous complaint.
“Any business that seeks to appeal to consumers’ environmental concerns must make sure that its claims are accurate and that any conditions or qualifications are adequately disclosed,” said Ms Cass-Gottlieb.
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