Coles responds as shopper fumes about empty shelves

An angry shopper has taken to social media to reveal a slew of empty shelves at a Coles supermarket in New South Wales.

The footage, reminiscent of 2020 mid-pandemic scenes, shows the TikTok user walking the aisles to reveal stretches of barren racks across the dairy, meat and fresh produce departments of the North Rocks store.

The man moves around the supermarket revealing more and more aisles of unstocked bays, with pre-packaged salads almost all gone, limited vegetables, low milk supplies, and only a single brand of eggs available, as well as old fruit.

"We've got no more potatoes in this country," the customer says as he reveals the scant amount of spuds in the produce department, before suggesting the store is selling fruit that looks well past its prime. "Mangoes have been here for about 12 and a half years," he complains.

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The sad-looking aisles were evidently not a result of late-night shopping, as the customer revealed the store had five hours left of trading that day before close. "It's f**king 3 o'clock," he fumed, "and no more chicken." He goes on to film bare shelves in the dairy section, declaring, "you can see that we have no more milk in this country".

Coles responds

Frustrated customers flooded the comments section of the post, indicating this is an issue in supermarkets all over the country. "Same as over in WA where I live mate, bare shelves," chimed one Redditor, while a Melbourne-based customer said "the Coles in Mitcham Victoria was the same tonight". A third shopper joked that the situation is "like the Hunger Games".

Other users implored shoppers to remember stocks have been affected by problems in the supply chain. "Mate, they're understaffed and there are supply issues currently," countered one person in the comments. "Don't you realise there's been a weather crisis all over Australia, and egg contamination," added another.

However, a spokesperson for Coles assured Yahoo News this was an isolated incident and not a reflection of greater supply issues, with the store's staff working to rectify the problem.

"At Coles, we pride ourselves on providing an excellent experience and quality for all of our customers," the spokesperson said. "The North Rocks store is aware of the recent fresh produce availability challenge and is working to ensure the shelves are full of fresh produce as soon as possible. We thank our customers for their understanding."

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