Cause of statewide bread shortage confirmed
Shoppers in one Aussie state have been left scrambling to find the breakfast staple.
Tip Top has come forward after pictures of empty bread aisles in supermarkets across Western Australia were shared over the weekend.
A Perth shopper took to social media asking what had caused a seemingly statewide bread shortage, after noticing bare aisles at multiple local supermarkets.
“Pardon my French, but what the F is going on? No bread in any shops,” they shared, along with a photo of an abysmal supermarket bread section.
Commenters had their theories, but most narrowed it down to a fire at Tip Top’s industrial bread bakery in Canning Vale last week.
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According to The West Australian, the building on Magnet Road was flooded with firefighters following reports of a fire starting just before 12.30am on Wednesday, October 22.
Independent bakeries and large supermarkets alike have taken to social media, confirming that their stock had been impacted in the immediate aftermath.
“We just wanted to give everyone a quick heads-up — unfortunately, we’ll be out of all pre-packed bread for the next day or two due to a significant fire at the Tip Top factory in Perth,” said the Katanning Woolworths team in a post to Facebook.
“Due to a fire at the Tip Top Canning Vale factory, we will not be receiving any bread deliveries until Monday 24th October 2025. This delivery and the days following will be at half capacity until further notice. Limits will apply,” shared Quairading Co-Op on Instagram.
Tip Top has confirmed to news.com.au that the impacts are ongoing, sharing that in the meantime, some stock will be coming in from interstate.
“Our Tip Top Canning Vale Bakery in Western Australia is operating at reduced capacity following the fire incident that took place on Wednesday 22nd of October. The fire was extinguished promptly, and all of our people were evacuated safely,” a spokesperson said.
“We have now resumed two out of three main areas of our bakery and are transporting fresh bread into Western Australia daily from our South Australian bakery.”
Tip Top said that although Western Australians might be short on bread for a while, no other states will be impacted.
“While we anticipate some short-term impact to bread availability in Western Australia over the next few days, our team is working swiftly to restore full operations. Given Tip Top’s extensive national network of bakeries, there will be no impact to bread supply in other states going forward. The safety of our people and the integrity of our food quality remain our highest priorities,” it said.
“We apologise for any inconvenience while we work to recommence our full bakery operations as quickly as possible.”
In the meantime, Coles told news.com.au it is working with their suppliers – including Tip Top – to resolve the issue promptly.
“We thank our customers for their patience and remain committed to restocking shelves as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson said.
Woolworths assured that while it’s running low on some select brands, it will continue to have a wide range for shoppers to choose from in the meantime.
“Whilst we may not have your favourite brand on shelf at the moment, we’re in good supply of other bread brands and products alongside bread from our own bakery section,” a spokesperson shared.
“We expect to see supply return as close to normal as we transition throughout the week and we thank customers for their patience during this time.”
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Originally published as Cause of statewide bread shortage confirmed
