By Esther Lauaki
Wyndham residents are being urged not to stockpile key household items, with panicked shoppers leaving supermarket shelves empty as coronavirus fears spread.
Shelves have been stripped of dog food, longlife milk, pasta, nappies and hand sanitiser with Coles, Woolworths and Aldi supermarkets limiting toilet paper purchasing to four packs per customer.
A Coles spokesperson told Star Weekly the temporary purchase limits would help to maintain stock levels in store while suppliers increase local production and distribution centres increase deliveries.
Coles Werribee currently has a 48-hour turnaround on products.
“Coles has increased the number of deliveries to stores this week to improve availability on other popular products, such as long-life pantry staples and healthcare items, and our teams are working hard to fill the shelves as quickly as possible,” a statement from Coles said.
“While there may be some temporary stock shortages, the vast majority of products in our stores and via Coles online remain available for customers.
“It is not unusual for Coles to face disruption, which can occur for many reasons, from environmental factors such as floods, cyclones and bushfires, to third party disruptions.
“As a result, we have comprehensive response plans in place across our network that cover contingencies including resourcing and product sourcing.”
Woolworths said its teams are continuing to work hard on restocking stores with long-life food and groceries from distribution centres.
“The vast majority of the products in our range remain available for our customers as normal,” a spokesperson said.
Panic buying has also placed pressure on Foodbank and other welfare organisations.
Manor Lakes Foodbank manager Lynette Labuschagne said it was still too early to tell whether panic buying was having a significant impact on the welfare service.
“We have noticed that donations of toilet paper have gone down,” Ms Labuschagne said.
“We only had four packs donated recently so we couldn’t give out any toilet paper last week.
“I will have to monitor what goods come in through our deliveries next week.”
