Home brand soft drinks shortage in Australian supermarkets blamed on carbon dioxide supply

A carbon dioxide shortage has been blamed for a lack of home-brand soft drinks on Australian supermarket shelves.

Shoppers have been left disappointed, with some reporting empty shelves for “weeks” in their local stores.

“I get all my groceries delivered, haven’t been able to get any for weeks,” one Reddit user wrote.

“I swear this has been getting worse, more drinks gone every time I go to the shops,” another wrote.

“I noticed it’s the sugar ones as well. Plenty of Coke and Pepsi brand lemonade, but no Coles brand on the shelf,” another wrote.

Woolworths have confirmed the reason behind the empty shelves is due to a shortage of carbon dioxide.

“Shortages of CO2 have impacted the supply of some soft drinks in our stores. We are working to manage these impacts and a number of alternative products are available to customers while these shortages continue,” a spokesperson said.

About 20 Woolworths brand soft drinks have been affected by the CO2 shortage. Soda water and lemonade are understood to be the products which are hardest to find.

Coles has vowed to offer alternative fizzy drink options during the shortage and has signs warning shoppers of the low stock.

“We are working with our suppliers to minimise the impacts for our customers, and we hope to have products back on our shelves as soon as possible. In the meantime, we have increased our stock of alternative drinks,” a Coles spokesperson said.

The Australian carbon dioxide market is understood to rely on two major suppliers, BOC and Air Liquide.

A BOC spokesperson said the company was doing what it could to minimise impact.

“Product has been imported to bridge the supply gap; however, due to many current issues impacting international freight, supply has been impacted except for critical medical, safety and water treatment customers,” a BOC spokesperson told Illawarra Mercury.

The Australian New Zealand Industrial Gas Association, the nation’s authority representing gas companies in both countries, expressed fears the shortage was another sign of Australia’s weak food supply chain, according to the Daily Mail.

It said shortages are often caused by outages at production facilities and Australia’s reliance on overseas producers.

It’s understood supplies of beer are unaffected by the shortage.