Supermarket shelves stripped after panic buying and supply shortages strike the southern Wheatbelt

Southern Wheatbelt supermarkets have introduced strict product limits as panic buying and supply chain tensions worsen. Last week, supermarket giant Coles re-introduced a cap on toilet paper, selected medications and meat products after customers started to strip the shelves bare of essentials. The toilet paper aisle at the Narrogin Coles became a barren wasteland as residents rushed to claim their “one packet per customer”. Painkillers, baby formula, long-life milk, rice and flour were also in short-supply as nervous customers began to stock up after the announcement of a mystery COVID-19 case in Perth on January 12. Pingelly IGA X-Press store manager Rachelle Lipari said their staff had to enforce products limits after an influx of panic buyers. “We got our grocery delivery yesterday, we got a decent amount of toilet paper, but we didn’t get all of what we wanted,” she said. “We were able to half-fill the shelves and they are already empty even though we put limits on it.” Woolworths introduced two-packet restrictions on toilet paper, painkillers and several meat products across their stores. Both Coles and Woolworths have enforced one-pack limits for rapid antigen tests after they became legal in WA on January 10. The low stock issues aren’t solely due to panic buying, with up to 50 per cent of the Eastern States transport and logistics workforce in isolation waiting on COVID-19 test results, according to Australian Container Freight Services. Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia State president Brian Lynn predicted grocery shelves would continue to be empty well into February. “I’m not sure what proportion of that is supply issues from over east and what proportion is panic buying but I have a gut feeling it’s a bit of each,” he said. Prime Minister Scott Morrison convened an emergency meeting of National Cabinet last Thursday to address hold-ups in NSW, Victorian and Queensland retail and distribution centres due to workers having to isolate because of COVID. National Cabinet will consider relaxing isolation rules for transport and logistics sector workers. The Prime Minister has held a series of emergency meetings with industry groups and unions after which he said the rapidly rising number of COVID cases across the country was having an obvious impact on supply networks and distribution chains. A Coles spokesperson said the supermarket chain was working with suppliers and transport partners to ramp up deliveries and return a full range of products to stores in the coming weeks. “We welcome announcements from the Victorian, NSW, Queensland and Northern Territory State governments to exempt essential workers in the food production and logistics sectors from requirements to isolate if they are a close contact of someone who has tested positive to COVID,” the Coles spokesperson said. “The new measures, which are subject to stringent safety protocols including the use of rapid antigen testing, will support us to deliver more of the food and essentials our customers need to our stores across Australia.”