Rush on groceries strips shelves
Suppliers are struggling to meet an ‘unprecedented demand’ for pasta and rice as consumers panic-buy staple goods.
Suppliers are struggling to meet an “unprecedented demand” for pasta and rice as consumers panic-buy staple goods in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The fear surrounding coronavirus has seen customers confronted by empty shelves of toilet paper and hand sanitiser, but suppliers of non-perishable goods such as pasta, canned food and rice have also been caught off-guard by soaring demand.
Industry insiders say they are unsure how successful companies such as Barilla and Dolmio will be in ensuring continued supply in the face of the heavy situation.
Compounding suppliers’ problems are similar demand pressures across Europe and, combined with delayed supply chains, stock is taking up to eight weeks to reach Australia.
A spokeswoman for Barilla said it was attempting to replenish stock as quickly as possible.
“We’ve seen unprecedented demand for pasta across the range. Barilla Australia is working closely with both local customers and the factory in Italy to manage the increase in demand, retrieving additional stock from local warehouses where possible, and increasing orders to replenish supply,” the spokeswoman said.
Despite the nationwide Italian shutdown, Barilla said it was unaffected by the “evolving situation”, but was monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of its employees and production processes.
As reported by The Australian on Monday, Aldi’s managing director of purchasing wrote to suppliers warning that panic-buying had spread to everyday products and co-operation was needed to ensure shoppers weren’t confronted by empty shelves.
In a statement, a spokesman for SunRice said that demand for its products was “currently exceeding supply”.
“This temporary demand spike has exacerbated shortage of supply of Australian rice products which SunRice has already been experiencing as a consequence of ongoing drought conditions in the Riverina, and the impact of those conditions on Australian rice production,” a spokesman said.
“Where necessary, SunRice is flexing its international supply capability to source high-quality rice from international sources to temporarily supplement supply.”
A spokeswoman for Coles said: “While the vast majority of our products are sourced from Australia, we are working closely with our suppliers overseas and locally to maintain availability for customers.”
Suppliers of sanitation goods, such as bleach manufacturer White King and toilet paper manufacturer Sorbent, are operating factories at maximum capacity to meet the additional demand.
Brad Banducci, chief executive of Woolworths, said some producers had “tripled their normal production”. “The makers of Kleenex are now manufacturing 24 hours, seven days a week at their factory, as are Sorbent in their NSW and Victorian facilities,” Mr Banducci said.
A spokeswoman said although Woolworths hadn’t seen an impact on the supply of these products, it was monitoring the situation closely.
Panic-buying has resulted in chemists and other retailers running out of face masks and hand sanitiser. The lack of supply has seen price gouging across several online marketplaces, with merchants charging $75 for 500ml bottles of hand sanitiser.
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