Royal wedding fever leaves Auckland supermarket in a pickle

SALLY TAGG/NZ GARDENER

Royal wedding watchers are being blamed for clearing out an Auckland supermarket of cucumbers.

Royal wedding fever has hit Auckland hard, leaving Countdown's Metro store in a cucumber crisis.

The store, in Victoria St in the CBD, ran out of cucumbers on Friday afternoon.

Countdown's senior communications advisor Katherine Klouwens said the shortage was believed to be caused by customers wanting to serve cucumber sandwiches to guests at viewing parties on Saturday night.

"Cucumber sandwiches and a cup of tea are a key part of any royal wedding viewing party."

Klouwens said a new order of cucumbers would arrive at the store on Saturday morning.

GETTY IMAGES

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will wed on Saturday night, New Zealand time.

The Auckland Metro store opened in 2012 and mostly caters to CBD workers.

Klouwens could not immediately answer questions about how many cucumbers it usually had in stock.

The 5+ A Day website said cucumbers were grown indoors all year round and outdoors during summer.

STUFF

Cucumber sandwiches are the snack of choice for many royal wedding viewing parties.

Stocks were plentiful from May-June, with a limited supply available during February, March and April.

The wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will take place on Saturday night, with the main event being broadcast from 9.05pm.

It's expected more than three billion people will be tuning in worldwide.