Depleted supplies of food and cleaning products on some supermarket shelves are causing more panic for shoppers already alarmed by the coronavirus outbreak.
In the wake of Covid-19, many businesses have been contacting customers with how they are managing the situation. Supermarket giant Countdown is no different, telling customers on Monday that there was "no need" to stock up on groceries and essentials.
In an email sent to Countdown’s Onecard customers, managing director Natalie Davis said of food supplies that there is “plenty to go around”.
However, shelves have revealed otherwise for some stores hit hardest by panic buying, with one Auckland store out of stock of many essentials.
While Ms Davis reassured customers that empty shelves mean the “product is on its way”, some shoppers were nervous about what it could mean.
Twenty people are now infected, but health officials say there’s still no evidence of community outbreak. (Source: Other)
At 5.30pm yesterday, one store was almost out of bread, canned vegetables, long-life milk and flour. Most dried pasta was gone as were most disinfectant products.
A staff member 1 NEWS spoke to said canned peaches had been scarce since Sunday. They were “completely wiped out”, she said.
The online order she was picking showed a single customer had ordered 90 cans of corn. However, she said the product was now out of stock.
She said she believed there should be a limit to amounts ordered online.
“Because it’s not fair, otherwise it will just wipe out the whole shelf for customers who only want one or two,” she said.
This comes as Aucklanders rush to stockpile essential supplies. (Source: Other)
One customer, who wanted to remain anonymous, told 1 NEWS he has a special needs child who needs dairy and gluten-free foods but was only able to complete 50 per cent of his shop.
“I am surprised by normal food that just isn’t available. Like milk, for example. There’s no packet milk left. Gluten-free products are pretty much all out, and they don’t have the porridge we normally have.
“The range is probably depleted."
He said he has not come across the lack of supply before.
“This whole coronavirus thing has obviously spiked it all but it’s just crazy how you can’t find household stuff that you would normally buy. I would have thought it would have been in abundance."
Jessica Vredenburg explains the psychology behind the chaos at Auckland shops over the weekend. (Source: Other)
He said of his grocery list, only 50 per cent of it was in stock.
“I am just trying to find substitutes now, that’s honestly what I’m doing.
“But it puts me in a different category because now I’m having to guess how this is going to affect me down the track,” he says.
Countdown spokesperson Charlotte Mee told 1 NEWS limits were only in place for Panadol, paracetamol and Dettol products currently.
She said Countdown staff are "monitoring other products in high demand several times throughout the day" and that bulk and trade sales had been restricted a few weeks ago but did not say if shoppers would face limits or restrictions to buying in bulk online or in store.
"We’re continuing to manage the increased customer demand we’re seeing in our stores, but we also need customers to remember that when they buy more than they need, others will go without that day.
"We’d strongly encourage customers to shop as they normally would. This includes shopping in-store if you don’t need to shop online, as well as being thoughtful of others to ensure that all New Zealanders have access to the food and products they need."
Foodstuffs, which oversees Pak'nSave and New World Supermarkets, told 1 NEWS the demand from online orders have affected stock levels at some of their stores.
Some orders have had to be cancelled due to "the team's ability to pick and deliver", the company's head of corporate affairs and CSR Antoinette Laird said today.
He also explains why there is no need to panic buy. (Source: Other)
"Teams in-store are doing their very best to ramp up and meet customers' new online needs, but we ask customers to bear with us as the teams settle into this ‘new normal’ of needing to provide a much larger number of online and click and collect orders. We sincerely apologise to anyone who has had their order cancelled – it is not something the teams do lightly," she said.
Ms Laird said stores don't have limits in place for online orders but may restrict amounts if products were in short supply.
Foodstuffs CEO Chris Quin told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp last night that customers should not "panic buy".
He said the rush on supermarkets had picked up again when stricter border control measures were announced on the weekend.
“The supply chain in New Zealand is in good shape.
“New Zealand is a net producer of food and we have the ability to keep up.
“If customers shop as normally as they can we will do a good job," he said.
Mr Quin is keen to see people's panic not become part of the problem.
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