Coles, Woolworths supermarkets struggle to restock shelves after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Grocery shortages are ongoing across flood-hit areas as supermarkets struggle to restock shelves, with some purchase limits on some key items.

Woolworths at Great Western Shopping Centre, Keperra, on Monday. (Image/Josh Woning)

Supermarkets are struggling to restock shelves in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred with milk, bread and fresh produce in short supply.

There are also shortages in eggs, bottled water, yoghurt and toilet paper.

Coles has confirmed that purchase limits were in place on some essential, high-demand items, while admitting ongoing delays to restocking its supermarkets.

“While our distribution centres are back up and running, our stock levels will vary by stores – depending on when our store team have been able to receive deliveries,” a Coles spokesman said.

Supermarket shelves are stripped bare at some Brisbane supermarkets. Picture: Matthew Condon

“Our team continue to work extremely hard to restock our shelves, but as this will take time, we have got some purchase limits in place on bottled water, long-life milk and toilet paper.”

The Coles spokesman said it had been forced to dispose of a lot of food products at supermarkets hit by extended power outages.

“As a food retailer, we do not want food to go to waste but food safety is paramount at Coles and unfortunately as a result of products being un-refrigerated for an extended period of time, for safety and quality reasons, we needed to dispose of a number of products to ensure customer safety,” he said.

The fruit and vegetable section at Coles Carindale was empty on Tuesday morning.

The Courier-Mail visited Coles supermarkets in West End and Coorparoo to find fresh fruit and vegetables sections stripped bare, while at Coles Carindale, meat, milk and eggs were all in short supply.

The fridges at Coles Ferny Grove were empty on Tuesday morning with power only restored to the store on Monday night.

Crowds gathered outside Robina Coles as it was preparing to reopen.

Woolworths faces a similar situation with shelves empty at many of its Brisbane supermarkets, with bread, bottled water and some meat products in short supply at Fortitude Valley, Coorparoo and Keperra.

Meanwhile, multiple aisles in Aldi Coorparoo were empty on Tuesday morning, with no vegetables, fruit or eggs, while there were limited milk and bottled water products.