Supermarket chains to work as one to deliver more goods to shoppers

Shoppers could see less food options available on shelves as staff at one supermarket may suddenly work at a rival outlet to cope with the increasing demand.

• ‘Mattresses burned’: Virus sparks riot in Cocaine Cassie’s jail
• Aussies told to check mortgage rates right now

Shoppers could see less food options available on supermarkets shelves but much higher quantities to cope with the ongoing panic-buying problem.

And staff at one supermarket may suddenly work at a rival outlet to cope with the increasing demand on stores to have employees available in each location.

The nation’s largest supermarkets including Coles, Woolworths and Metcash who own brands including IGA and Foodworks have joined forces to work as one under new rules rolled out by the competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Chair Rod Sims said “panic buying has pushed up demand by double or more”.

“The problem is not lack of supply, it’s the logistics of getting things into the shops, that means trucks coming into stores outside of curfews,” he said.

“It means have enough store packers in place and co-ordinating supply.”

He said the various supermarkets needed to co-ordinate more closely to “make sure the stuff was on the shelves”.

“Hopefully this panic buying will die down, I mean how much more food can you put in your freezer or stuff in your pantry,” Mr Sims said.

Woolworths has introduced plexiglass screens across its supermarket network to protect workers from being exposed to COVID-19. Picture: Dallas Kilponen

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week spoke of his disgust with the panic buying and told people to “stop hoarding”.

“I can’t be more blunt about it. Stop it. It is not sensible, it is not helpful and it has been one of the most disappointing things I have seen in Australian behaviour in response to the crisis.”

Mr Sims said under the changes effective immediately it meant “there would be more comfort that they food and groceries will be available”.

“Something they could do, they could say to suppliers rather than make five lines of pasta just make one or two lines which is easier and faster to do,” he said.

“And in packaging rather than have five different packages just package it like this and they could all agree, so yes there might be less choice.

“It will be so much faster.”

MORE NEWS

Ultimate guide for Aussies needing financial relief

Aussie medical breakthrough offers hope for virus vaccine

15m Aussies could catch virus within months

Minister tells Centrelink users to go online as queues grow

Mr Sims said it could also result in supermarket workers at one supermarket chain “helping each other out”.

For example this could result in a Coles worker ending up working at a Woolworths outlet and vice versa to cope with staffing demands.

Woolworths chief executive officer Brad Banducci said he was “supportive” of the collaboration between supermarkets.

“This will ultimately mean more products, delivered safely to communities across Australia,” he said.

A Coles spokeswoman said under the new ACCC authorisation allowed supermarkets “to work together with suppliers and logistics providers to ensure that we are making the best use of resources and allocating essential supplies fairly while prioritising those most in need”.

CHANGES TO COLES’ STORES

Coles is dedicating two Community Hour shopping periods per week to emergency services and healthcare workers, who are essential to protecting the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coles has also introduced a number of guidelines to help with social distancing in stores. Customers are advised to use the length of a trolley as a guide for the distance between themselves and other shoppers and asked to please sanitise their hands before entering stores. The use of tap-and-go for payment is also encouraged.

It is spending an additional $1 million per week to extensively clean our stores and also increasing the number of security guards in our supermarkets to keep customers and team members safe during this time of unprecedented demand.

Coles is also in the early stages of rolling out our new Coles Online Priority Service and is looking to bring this service to as many vulnerable customers as possible. Our priority is to ensure a good range of everyday grocery essentials can be offered with high availability to our customers who find it difficult to shop in-store.

@sophieelsworth

Originally published as Supermarket chains to work as one to deliver more goods to shoppers