Countdown places restrictions on toilet paper, sanitiser, rice

Thursday, 19 March 2020

Countdown has placed restrictions on 11 items including rice, pasta, toilet paper and anti-bacterial wipes.

Countdown supermarkets have placed a two-per-person restriction on products high in demand, as customers stockpile amid coronavirus fears.

Countdown's health and safety general manager, Kiri Hannifin, said the supermarket was urging customers to limit their shopping to what they needed.

Security staff were on hand to limit the number of people going in to Pak'n Save Royal Oak on Thursday.

'At the moment, for some products, we're selling triple the amount we would normally sell in a week,' Hannifin said.

'And while we make things like toilet paper right here in New Zealand, we simply can't get it on our shelves quick enough if everyone is going to continue to buy like they are currently.'

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At the moment Countdown supermarkets country-wide had a limit of two per customer on the following items: Hand sanitiser, personal wash, panadol and paracetamol, antibacterial wipes, disinfectant and household cleaners, toilet paper, paper towels, serviettes, facial tissues, pasta and rice.

On Thursday morning, Countdown Dinsdale in Hamilton told shoppers in a note a 'significant breakdown' at one of its bread manufacturing plants in the North Island had temporarily affected the availability of bread.

'We expect supply to be back to normal by Monday afternoon,' the note said.

Hannifin said 'we had some issues over the weekend with bread supply into a number of our stores. This has since been fixed and George Western Foods has now increased their supply going into our stores.'

Antoinette Laird, a spokeswoman for Foodstuffs, the owner of Pak 'n Save, New World and Four Square, said there were temporary limits on the number of items customers could purchase but this varied from store to store.

'This is being managed locally,' Laird said.

New World Marshland Rd in Christchurch is limiting people to two bags of rice each, while Pak 'n Save Mt Albert and Royal Oak in Auckland has been limiting the number of customers shopping at one time.

Countdown was also experiencing increased demand that could affect online deliveries and pick up times, the supermarket said on its website.

New World stores cancelled online orders after customer demands soared.

Greymouth baker Chris Blanchfield said the number of loaves of bread had gone up from five to 270.

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The main business for Blanchfield's Bakery, in Greymouth CBD, was usually its pies and cafe, not sliced loaves.

'It's mad. We've been baking bread since 1892 when my great great grandad opened the bakery. I usually only bake five or six loaves plus our specialty loaves. It's not normally a big part of our business but people are going crazy,' he said.

He had told people his supplies were good, and had more stock arriving every day.

'People have come in wanting 10 loaves at a time and I've told them come back and buy one fresh tomorrow. I suppose it's just the uncertainty of what's happening,' he said.

He had heard that people were driving over from Christchurch to shop at Greymouth's supermarkets as shelves were cleared so quickly at Christchurch supermarkets. 'That's bordering on insanity.'