Empty shelves at supermarkets across Cairns as Covid and weather hit supply

National chains are working to manage shortages of stock but one local supermarket business is finding ways to beat the squeeze on supply.

SUPERMARKET shelves across Cairns have begun to look a little bare as Covid rips through the Far North, forcing many staff to isolate.

National chains have said the shortages will be felt for some time, but one Far North supermarket operator believes it can beat the supply squeeze.

Piccones IGA company director John Piccone said their stores had no real problems obtaining stock throughout the Covid issues.

“We still have plenty of stock on the shelves,” he said.

The shelves at Coles supermarket at Mt Sheridan Plaza.

“We source our produce and stock. Some of it comes from Brisbane markets.”

He said the situation was different because the business buys a lot of local products such as meat.

“Our groceries were only one load behind.,” he said.

“We are supposed to get groceries on Monday night but they are going to come on Tuesday night now because they missed the train.”

While many businesses have lost staff to isolation due to Covid he said their business had been very lucky so far and have been able to cope.

“We are very lucky because we have a large database of staff,” he said.

“We have a lot of casuals that we are able to bring in at short notice.

“So if anyone has to go into isolation, we can use casual staff to come in and replace them.”

National chains have said the flooding further down south will add even further disruptions.

A Woolworths spokesperson said people should expect to see empty shelves when they enter the supermarket.

Coles supermarket at Mt Sheridan Plaza had a lot of missing grocery items on Saturday, including instant noodles.

“Following railway closures due to flooding, along with current supply chain disruptions due to Covid-19, deliveries to our stores in North Queensland have been delayed,” they said.

“Our teams are working hard to ensure stock is delivered as soon as possible, but customers will find that stores have reduced availability of stock.”

But the spokesperson said there was still enough stock coming around so people should not stress.

“While there are more gaps on our shelves than usual, we have enough stock coming through our network for customers to do a family shop,” they said.

A Coles spokesperson said they were also dealing with a number of supply chain challenges including a shortage of shipping pallets to Cairns.

“More recently, an increase in Covid case numbers in the community has required more people to isolate, which has meant fewer people are available to work, including in the food manufacturing and transport sectors,” the spokesperson said.

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“While we are working with our suppliers to improve availability, we expect it will be several weeks before we are able to fully recover.”

Coles has begun to put temporary purchase limits on products around Cairns.

There is a limit of two packs of mince, two packs of chicken breasts or six fillets from the deli, two packs of chicken thighs or six fillets from the deli and two packs of sausages.

Residents have started to feel the impacts as well.

Tricia Smith, from White Rock, said it had been difficult to find some of the items she was looking to buy including tomatoes, bleach and mince.

Ms Smith said she was hopeful that in a few weeks the shelves would start to be full again.

“You can eat something different. You don’t need to get angry or get aggressive for something you can’t get,” she said.

Originally published as Empty shelves at supermarkets across Cairns as Covid and weather hit supply