Coles and Woolworths shoppers frustrated as another staple disappears from shelves

Another supermarket staple has been struck by supply issues, adding to customer frustration at ongoing market-wide shortages.

Frustrated shoppers have begun reporting major shortages of another household staple as retailers continue contending with devastating supply issues.

Shelves that would typically be filled to the brim with eggs in Coles and Woolworths have been left remarkably bare.

A shopper shared a photo of the egg section inside a Coles store on Saturday, with only a handful of cartons left on the predominantly empty shelves.

“This was the egg section at Coles today. This isn’t supply chain issues, this is something else. Yet they are still blaming Covid for stuff like this,” they posted on Twitter.

Someone else had made a similar observation at their local Woolworths.

“Anyone know what’s going on with eggs atm? Online shopping has no eggs, my big local

Woolworths – no eggs. I can live without them but why the shortage?” they wrote.

“No eggs at Coles Glen Waverley on Sunday,” another wrote.

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Shoppers have noticed fewer eggs in their local Coles stores.

Shoppers also observed less eggs on shelves at Woolworths. Photo: Supplied.

Sydney-based The Today Show weekend host David Campbell also questioned if there was an egg supply issue.

“No eggs at my local Woolies. None. Eggless. Is there a shortage? Is this other places?” he tweeted.

He received a response from a customer of Gordon Woolworths, on Sydney’s Upper North Shore.

“None at Gordon Woollies and no lettuce/spinach/rocket either. Tissues section completely empty,” he wrote.

A shopper on Wednesday noticed the problem at a Sydney Costo Wholesale outlet.

“No eggs and toilet rolls in Costco Crossroads Casula Sydney,” they wrote in a tweet.

A Reddit user said they had noticed low egg stock levels in both their local Coles and Woolies.

There were barren scenes inside this Coles’ egg fridge over the weekend. Picture: Twitter

“There seems to be egg shortage in Coles and Woolies? Erina Fair and Bay Village [on Sydney’s Central Coast] at least. Anyone knows what's going on?” they wrote.

There were suggestions that free range hens don’t particularly like the chilly weather, and were therefore laying fewer eggs.

A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed reduced production on farms were a prominent factor.

“The market-wide supply of locally produced eggs in some regions have recently been impacted by reduced production on a number of farms,” they told news.com.au.

“While we continue to deliver eggs to our stores regularly, customers may notice reduced availability at the moment and we thank them for their patience and understanding.

“We’re in close contact with our suppliers and are working to increase the availability of eggs in stores as soon as possible.”

Coles also confirmed they were experiencing a shortage of eggs.

“We are experiencing temporary reduced availability in our eggs range due production challenges. We are working hard to restock stores as quickly as possiblem,” a spokesperson said.

Originally published as Coles and Woolworths shoppers frustrated as another staple disappears from shelves