Woolworths reveals new items Aussies are stockpiling
It’s no secret supermarkets have struggled to keep shelves stocked as hoarders stockpile essentials amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Now Woolworths has revealed how much toilet paper they have sold in a single week.
In an email addressed to Woolworths customers, CEO Brad Banducci said it had been six weeks since the surge in buying started in stores after reports of Italy going into lockdown.
One of the most sought-after items in the past few weeks has been toilet paper.
“Amazing as it might seem, we are still seeing almost double our normal demand for toilet paper,” Mr Banducci said.
“Just this week, that was over 20.5 million rolls.”
The CEO said despite the supermarket getting more stock than usual to keep up with the demand Woolworths was “still not where we need to be”.
The new products Aussies are stockpiling
As for pasta, another staple Australians have targeted in their stockpiling, Woolies is getting another extra 1000 pallets in next week, which Mr Banducci explains is another 500,000 packets.
“It will still be patchy for a while, but we are expecting much more stock on shelves next week,” he said, adding there had also been an “extraordinary demand” for cleaning wipes.
He said Australians can expect to find cleaning wipes in the coming weeks as Woolworths tries to secure extra supplies from “alternative sources”.
This past week Mr Banducci noted two of the “highest growth categories” of the past week have been cake mixes and household cleaning products.
“A lot more kids are baking and parents cleaning as we all spend more time at home,” he said.
Supermarkets across Australia have made several changes to their stores amid the coronavirus outbreak to abide by social distancing restrictions.
Next week Woolworths and Coles will roll out new social distancing rules, which limits customers inside stores to manage the Easter rush.
Just a few weeks back, Australia’s largest supermarkets Woolworths, Coles, IGA and Aldi banded together and released a newspaper ad to address the “panic buying” and how it impacted stores nationwide.
“Our suppliers and teams are doing everything possible to get as many products onto all our shelves as they can, often under difficult circumstances,” the ad said.
“So we ask you to please be considerate in the way you shop.”
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