Signs of a second wave of unnecessary panic buying in New South Wales has forced supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths to re-introduce limits on toilet paper and paper towel.
Bizarre shopping trends in recent days have forced the supermarket to act, with signs that people are again starting to stockpile items.
Supermarkets never closed at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic and supply levels can be maintained if people don’t panic buy, so the rush on items makes little logical sense.
“We’ve regrettably started to see elevated demand for toilet roll move outside Victoria in the past 24 hours,” Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Claire Peters said.
“While the demand is not at the same level as Victoria, we’re taking preventative action now to get ahead of any excessive buying this weekend and help maintain social distancing in our stores.
“We have ordered more than 650,000 additional packs of toilet roll into our network, which is an increase of more than 30 percent on our usual volumes.
“We have plenty of stock for all of us, so we encourage our customers to buy only what they need and think of others in the community as they shop this weekend. If customers already have enough toilet roll at home, there is no need to buy more.
“The sooner we see buying patterns return to normal levels, as was the case throughout May and most of June, the quicker we’ll be able to wind back limits.”
There are no other product limits other than toilet paper and paper towel outside of Victoria at this time.
