The ACCC is suing burger chain Grill’d for allegedly misleading diners over how much it would donate to tree planting from the sale of millions of burgers.

For three years between 2021 and 2024 Grill’d ran a Tree Day Tuesday promotion  which promised to give $1 from every burger purchased to projects to plant trees.

Although some five million burgers were bought on Tuesdays during the promo period, only a “small percentage” actually qualified, the consumer regulator alleged.

“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.

“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.”

An example of the Grill’d promotion. Photo: ACCC

The detailed list of conditions that most customers would not have been aware of included:

• the purchase had to be made on a Tuesday
• the purchase had to be of a ‘main item’ (urger or a salad)
• the buyer had to be a member of Grill’d’s Relish loyalty program
• the purchase had to be dine-in only and not takeaway, online order, or delivery
• dine-in orders had to be placed at the front counter (orders made via QR code at a table did not qualify)
• the buyer had to scan their loyalty program bar code at the counter when ordering
• the purchase could not be made in conjunction with any other offer

“Only around four per cent of…purchases qualified for a donation by Grill’d under its Tree Day Tuesday promotion,” said the ACCC.

“Of those five million burgers, more than one million burgers were bought by Relish members, but only about 17 per cent of those purchases qualified for a donation under the promotion.”

On Tuesday, a Grill’d spokesperson said “supporting Australian communities and those in need has and will always be part of who we are.”

The ACCC said there were many conditions tied to the promotion.

The ACCC launched proceedings in the Federal Court and accused Grill’d of exploiting people’s environmental concerns through “misleading or deceptive conduct” and breaching consumer law.

The ACCC’s case includes 26 Grill’d advertisements on social media, online and in store which it alleges all overstated the circumstances in which donations or contributions would be made.

“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 Cass-Gottlieb.

“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.”

The ACCC is seeking declarations, penalties, costs and other orders.