Instead of pursuing shoplifters, the big supermarkets should use their record profits to prevent food waste

Both Coles and Woolworths have started rolling out high-tech security measures to crack down on shoplifting. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Australia’s supermarket giants have been making a lot of noise about the spike in shoplifting across the country and the impact it is having on their business.

“We are seeing it in every store and every category, it’s a real challenge,” Coles chief operating officer Matt Swindells told 3AW radio station last week. Brad Banducci, CEO of Woolworths, told ABC Radio National there has been a “dramatic rise” of stock loss at his stores, including theft.