Rush on supermarkets despite assurances grocery chains are well-stocked

Tuesday, 17 August 2021

Shoppers wait in lines after a Covid-19 case was confirmed in Auckland.

Supermarket shelves are emptying across the country despite assurances there is no danger of food and other supplies running out at the country’s biggest grocery chains.

Shoppers have been queueing and stripping shelves following the announcement the country would be going into level 4 lockdown as a result of a community case of Covid-19 in Auckland. No links have yet been established to the border or to MIQ, and the virus variant is still to be confirmed.

Toilet paper is once again proving popular with photos from across the country showing people loading up and in one case, picking an aisle clean.

Empty toilet paper shelves in a Southland supermarket.

“We remind everyone that all our stores are open and there is plenty of food and other groceries, so there’s no need to buy more than you need,” Kiri Hannifin, Countdown's general manager of health and safety, said.

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People were queueing with trolley loads of groceries following the announcement that a community Covid case had been located.

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Shoppers at Countdown Ponsonby load up on items on Tuesday.

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Both Foodstuffs and Countdown confirmed they were preparing to change alert levels.

A statement from Foodstuffs, which operates New World and Pak 'n Save, said, “our supermarkets and integrated supply chain are prepared, and our stores have a good supply of groceries on the shelves. We are again asking customers to shop normal”.

At Countdown's store in Ponsonby, central Auckland, there were large lines of shoppers. The supermarket chain also put its online shoppers into a “virtual queue”.

A police spokesperson told Stuff police were preparing to enter the supermarkets to manage the increasing numbers of customers.

“We will be increasing our visibility at these locations to provide both workers and the public with reassurance,” the spokesperson said.

Police reiterated advice to remain calm and to refrain from panic buying.

Hannifin said Countdown was in the process of preparing stores for a change in alert levels.

“We know this is unnerving news for everyone, but we are well-practised at shopping safely during alert level changes, and we can do it again,” Hannifin said.

Hannifin asked customers to wear masks when shopping at Countdown stores and to use the NZ Contact Tracer app.

“At the moment all of our stores are open and we will have physical distancing measures in place, as well as extra cleaning and hygiene practices on top of what we do normally,” Hannifin said.

Antoinette Laird, the head of corporate affairs at Foodstuffs said news of the potential lockdown was unsettling, but supermarkets had plenty of food.

“Fortunately, our North Island distribution centre has plenty of extra capacity and the team have been holding extra volumes of key essential items should it be required in a case like this,” Laird said.

She asked customers to be patient as safety precautions were rolled out.

“In the meantime we encourage everyone to scan the Covid Tracer app and wear masks to protect themselves and our teams,” Laird said.