Woolworths boss takes extraordinary step to fight coronavirus buying frenzy
Just two days after Woolworths restricted the sale of toilet paper as shelves were stripped of stock over coronavirus fears, the supermarket has taken the extraordinary step to limit other grocery staples.
In an update to customers, Woolworths chief executive officer Brad Banducci addressed the “unusual and challenging times” shoppers were facing.
“We know it can be frustrating when we don’t have the products you need,” he said on Thursday before confirming the supermarket had added two other household staples to its restricted list.
“To make sure everyone has access to essential items, we’ve introduced some common-sense limits to a few products,” Mr Banducci said.
The new restrictions will impact on the purchasing of rice and hand sanitiser.
Shoppers will be limited to one two-kilogram bag of rice per transaction.
A Woolworths spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the restrictions to rice would only apply to large bags (2kg and over) and smaller bags would not be limited.
Customers will also be only allowed to purchase two bottles of hand sanitiser per transaction and will need to collect them from the customer service desk.
The spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the decision to limit certain grocery items was made on a “case by case basis” at Woolworths and was constantly being monitored.
“However, if we see new shortages, we may introduce other limits. We’ll only do this if we think it’s absolutely necessary and to help make sure all customers can access the products they need,” Mr Banducci said.
Toilet paper still remains limited to four packs per transaction as customers at supermarkets around Australia continue to find empty shelves.
But the Woolworths boss said suppliers were working overtime to restock shelves.
“The makers of Kleenex are now manufacturing 24 hours, 7 days a week at their Millicent, SA factory, as are Sorbent in their NSW and Victorian facilities. And the makers of Quilton have tripled their normal production across their factories in Queensland, NSW and WA,” Mr Banducci explained.
He also said it was worth noting the “vast majority of products aren’t affected and most stores aren’t seeing significant shortages”.
Coles have followed suit in restricting toilet paper to four packs per customer and told Yahoo News Australia they were also continuing to monitor all items, but had no plans to limit other items at this time.
News.com.au have reported that beyond limiting toilet roll purchases, ALDI refused to comment on any measures it was taking to allay customers’ fears about current shelf shortages.
Meanwhile some customers have reported on social media, they were pleased to see local ALDI staff enforcing a limit on customers at some locations.
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