Australian owned businesses called for the help of eleven key decision makers, who had all publicly expressed their endorsement for supporting Australian businesses, to go to bat in the ‘Unfairest Cricket Match’ that’s ever been played. But with eleven no shows, it was everyday Aussies that had to step up.
With these influential figures noticeably absent, Glenn McGrath, Captain of the ‘Australian Owned’ team, had to enlist the help of everyday Aussies at Kensington Oval, NSW yesterday to build the ‘Australian Owned’ team to face off against the ‘The Rest of the World’ team.
McGrath said: “It was disappointing to see that Australia’s leaders couldn’t go to bat for the ‘Australian Owned’ team today. Luckily, we were able to draft some supportive and enthusiastic Aussies to don their cricket whites and help us have a fair go.”
The ‘Unfairest Cricket Match’ saw the ‘Australian Owned’ team face disadvantages similar in scale to the ones they face in supermarkets, unfair decisions like poor shelf position and distribution were brought to life with tiny cricket bats, six-foot-tall stumps and an unfair umpire that had no problem looking the other way.
McGrath continued: “Without a doubt this is the unfairest cricket match that I’ve ever played. It was clear as soon as the match began that no matter how good a cricketer you are, if you’re facing disadvantages like these then you’re going to lose. Experiencing this on the pitch brought to life the struggles that Australian owned businesses are facing in the supermarkets, and I hope that the game today will help level the playing field for them off the pitch.”
After a gruelling and unfair match, the ‘Rest of the World’ team beat the ‘Australian Owned’ team by a total of nine wickets. The result was echoed with disappointment from spectators who were outraged that the ‘win’ was achieved using unjust disadvantages against the Aussie Owned team.
Mark Caine, Director of Sales and Marketing for Massel stated “As an Australian owned business, we understand and can relate to the struggle that the Aussie Owned team faced today. Watching them play against the Rest of the World team with smaller bats, huge stumps and the unfair umpire was similar to experiences we face in supermarkets against our foreign owned competitors.”
Australian Owned and its members are calling for Aussies to help level the playing field off the cricket pitch, as current estimations have revealed that only 15 percent of supermarket trolleys contain Aussie owned products.
Australians across the nation are invited to sign a petition to give Australian owned businesses a fair go in our supermarkets. This petition stipulates that food and grocery retailers must provide preferential shelf space allocation highlighting Australian owned brands in each product category.
General Manager of Australian Owned, Kristy Ponting, says: “It was brilliant to see Australians go to bat for Australian Owned when our policy makers couldn’t. We hope that today has shone a light on the disadvantages facing so many Australian owned brands and that Australians will continue to stand behind us in order to make a change that will give Aussie owned brands a fair go at getting great value, quality products onto Australian supermarket shelves and help our economy in the long term.”
