By Brendan Rees
Shelves of toilet paper at Coles supermarket in Lynbrook has been stripped bare by panic shoppers amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak.
It comes as shoppers flock to supermarkets across the country stockpiling on household essentials like toilet rolls, hand sanitiser, pasta, rice, tissues, Panadol and other long-life pantry items.
Images emerged on Facebook of Coles supermarket at Lynbrook Village Shopping Centre this week with shelves entirely cleared of toilet paper – a similar sight experienced by other shoppers around Casey.
Aleksandra Burska of Narre Warren South said she stood looking at empty shelves at Aldi Supermart in Hampton Park, astounded by the lack of choice.
She walked out unable to buy eggs, milk, pasta, flour, oil, nappies, wipes, tissues, frozen veggies, and more.
“I was shocked and annoyed there was nothing left for people that needed it especially people who live week to week or pensioners,” Ms Burska said.
She said the panic buying had also resulted in a row breaking out between customers at Coles in Casey Central on Friday 6 February.
Ms Burska said she was angry “greedy” people had been behaving “like the world was going to end”.
Kylie Hunt, who runs a cake business from her Lynbrook home, also echoed similar sentiments, saying she couldn’t find flour or sugar.
“I ended up getting the last three packets (of flour) at IGA at Narre Warren South,” she said.
“Coles supermarket has no spaghetti left on the shelf, no flour, no UHT milk – nothing like that either”.
When she called Coles, Ms Hunt was told the next shipment wasn’t due until another four days.
“They said you’ve got to get here early otherwise it sells out in like half an hour.
“It’s really starting to annoy me. I hope it settles down soon,” she said.
A Coles spokesperson said its stores had been running short on some antibacterial hand washes and hand sanitiser products due to high customer demand and continued to “work with our suppliers to maintain availability for customers.”
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci said stores had limited toilet paper to four packs per person and large packs of rice (2kg and over) to one per person, while hand sanitiser was limited to two per person.
A spokesperson for Kleenex said their production lines for toilet paper were “working 24/7 to address the increased, short-term demand”.
The maker of Sorbent toilet paper said it would be looking at its “best options” to ease demand stress, as some stock had been depleted from shelves.
Sorbent’s director of corporate affairs Steven Nicholson said “replenishment should catch up however any sustained panic buying in the volumes seen in recent days will be certain to stress supply”.
Ritchies Supa IGA stores had also experienced “significant” shortage of toilet paper, and had imposed limits on packs per person.
Meanwhile, online toilet paper seller Who Gives A Crap stated it had sold out of stock due to the rush – with customers facing up to a two week wait until they restocked.
