Coles announces new buying limits after freak flooding wreaks havoc with supply chains

The supermarket giants have announced new buying limits for some customers after freak flooding devastated supply chains.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have announced new, temporary buying limits for customers in Western Australia after flooding disrupted supply chains.

In a statement, Coles revealed some products coming from the eastern states were affected due to damaged road and rail routes.

“Thanks to our long-term relationships with farmers in Western Australia, the majority of fresh produce, including milk, meat, fruit and vegetables, that is sold in our WA Coles supermarkets, is grown or produced locally,” the statement reads.

“However, there are some products that cannot be produced in WA that retailers must transport from the eastern states.

“To help manage demand for key grocery items, from today we have introduced temporary purchase limits in all Western Australian Coles supermarkets, Coles Online and Coles Express stores.”

Coles confirmed it was “continuing to review our stock levels and are working hard to get products through the network as quickly as possible” with “all options” being considered, including road, rail, air and marine freight.

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Bare supermarket shelves are fast becoming the new normal in Australia. Picture: Regina Titelius

“We have a large cross-functional team that is working on our response to the current disruption to supply in Western Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory due to flood damaged road and rail routes,” the statement continues.

“We are also working with State and Federal Governments, and our third-party business partners and suppliers.

“This is going to be a challenging time and we encourage our customers to be flexible if the products they would usually buy are not available.

“We thank our customers for continuing to treat our team members with kindness and respect and ask that they only purchase what they need.”

From Thursday, WA shoppers will only be able to buy two packages of dry rice, sugar, flour, paper towels, tissues, medicines such as paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin, sausages and chicken thighs and breasts from the meat department.

Limits of six per shopper apply to chicken breasts and chicken thighs from the deli department, while customers will only be able to purchase one pack of toilet paper and rapid antigen tests per transaction.

Woolworths has also introduced a two pack purchase limit on flour, sugar, rice, pasta, eggs, paper towels, frozen fruit, frozen vegetables and frozen chips in Western Australia.

The “precautionary move” comes after flooding along the key east-west freight rail track affected the volume of product coming into WA across the food and grocery industry.

Due to significant rainfall in South Australia, the Australian Rail Track Corporation has advised that parts of the network between Adelaide and Tarcoola are flooded and rail operations have stopped.

Woolworths confirmed it was working with its trucking carrier partners to send freight across to WA, but there was a reduction in load capacity compared with rail.

Woolworths General Manager for Western Australia, Karl Weber, said the loss of the key freight link from the east would “regrettably have an impact on product availability in our stores over the next little while”.

“We’ve placed temporary purchase limits on selected categories to help ensure more customers have access to essential products while we work through the disruption,” he said.

“More than 80 per cent of our fresh fruit and vegetable range is sourced from growers within Western Australia, so we expect that part of the store will hold up reasonably well. We also source a large volume of our milk, dairy and meat locally.

“Together with our transport partners, we’ll continue to do everything we can to get as much stock as possible into Western Australia by road and ship.

“We encourage customers to be mindful of others in the community and only buy what they need. Please continue to be respectful to our team members who are doing their very best to ensure the products you need are available.”

Woolworths has had product limits on toilet paper and analgesic (pain killers) nationwide since the middle of January 2022.

South Australia’s recent severe flooding caused a giant whirlpool to appear next to one of the state’s main highways.

A huge whirlpool that opened up on the side of the Stuart Highway after floods. Pictures: Ineos Automotive

Flash flooding struck large parts of the state in late January as a trough parked itself over South Australia, delivering what has been labelled a “one-in-100 year rain event”.

Woomera, 500 km north of Adelaide and close to where the whirlpool emerged, recorded almost 50mm of rain in one 24 hour period last month – its entire average summer and autumn rainfall in a single day.

Coles and Woolies’ announcement also comes amid previous reports that WA’s food shortage could lead to cafes pulling certain meals off menus, after the South Australian floods led to a shortfall of cream, cheese and bacon supplies.

Various products, including plant-based milks, ham and beef and pork sausages, have failed to cross the border as the mass flooding created supply distribution issues for WA and the Northern Territory.

The rain has left vital road and rail lines damaged and submerged in water.

According to Western Roads Federation’s chief executive, Cam Dumesny, about 80 per cent of WA’s land-based freight comes via rail.

The buying limits apply to WA shoppers. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

SA authorities believe repairs to the rail track won’t be complete until mid February.

It means foods like bacon, ham, salami, cream and mozzarella cheese have failed to arrive in WA, creating the food shortage and leaving supermarket shelves bare.

National distributor NAFDA Foodservice’s deputy chairman, Damon Venoutsos, said the recent disruption to deliveries was worse than previous Covid-19-related interruptions.

He told the AFR cafes that served fettuccine carbonara would struggle to plate up the dish because they couldn’t get enough cream, cheddar and bacon to make the sauce.

– with NCA NewsWire