Don’t panic, but SA supermarket shelves set to stay empty
Empty shelves stripped of toilet paper and pantry staples are here to stay for the foreseeable future, SA supermarkets warn, even though overall demand is slowing.
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Drakes Supermarkets doesn’t believe its stores will see steady supply of toilet paper rolls and other pantry staples again for the foreseeable future, blaming previous panic buying behaviour for the decimation of stocks.
“There is a national shortage of essential items such as toilet paper, hand wash, rice and flour to name a few – the suppliers simply do not have the stock to keep up with the demand that was caused by the panic-buying we saw a few weeks ago,” Drakes Supermarkets director John-Paul Drake said.
“All Drakes stores are receiving on average 3-4 truck loads a week from our distribution centre, with some stores receiving loads daily.
“At the peak of the panic buying, we sold 526 per cent more than our normal volume of toilet paper!
“These times are unprecedented – there was no way that our suppliers could have forecasted for the huge volume of sales across these lines.”
Mr Drakes said the group was struggling to get enough toilet paper for its stores.
“The suppliers are drip-feeding stock to us as it becomes available, and they are trying to evenly distribute stock to all retailers... We’re only receiving large bulk packs of toilet paper, which is exacerbating the issue – one pallet of toilet paper can only help out 36 customers – and we may only receive 60 per cent of our order, if we’re lucky.”
The group assured customers its team was working as hard as possible to restock shelves as quickly as possible with available stock.
“Sales have started to slow this week – everyone’s cupboards must be full by now! This should give us some breathing room to be able to properly replenish our shelves,” he said.
A spokesman for the Chapleys family-owned Foodland Frewville and Pasadena stores said the group continued to receive a limited daily supply of toilet rolls which are “staggered” on to the shelves throughout the day.
“Limits on purchasing toilet rolls in our stores have assisted more people being able to access and buy toilet rolls,” he said.
A Woolworths spokesman said product availability is getting better each day, but it still has more work to do resetting supply after weeks of unprecedented demand.
“Pleasingly, demand has moderated this week and customers are respecting the limits we’ve put in place.
“We continue to work round the clock with our suppliers to replenish toilet paper stock across our South Australian store network.
“We understand it’s frustrating when customers can’t get the items they need and we apologise for the inconvenience.”
The group has previously said SA was getting a “fair share” of stock after confirming its distribution centre at Gepps Cross was also being used to send extra deliveries to Victoria, besides supporting its NT network.
Coles, which has a distribution centre at Edinburgh Parks, said it now has more stock on display, with signs demand is beginning to slow.
“This is in part due to customers taking heed of advice to stop over-purchasing, and also increased numbers of team members working in our stores, support from suppliers to improve availability, introducing purchase limits, reducing the hours of trade, and government intervention to relax truck curfews,” a spokesman said.
Aldi said it was operating at full-steam and working under immense pressure to provide products to “every single customer that shops with us”.
Stores will trade 8:30am-7pm from Monday (April 6) ahead of closures on Good Friday and Easter Sunday to give its team members a well-deserved break.
A spokeswoman for toilet paper roll maker Kimberly-Clark Australia said it’s a demand issue.
“Our (Millicent) mill is still operating at full capacity, making products 24/7.”