'Higher than usual demand' for toilet paper in NSW supermarkets
Shoppers have reported seeing bare toilet paper shelves in NSW supermarkets after stores reinstated product limits in their Victorian outlets.
Toilet paper was in short supply at Coles and Woolworths at Roselands in Sydney's south-west on Thursday, the Herald has been told.
Empty toilet paper shelves at Roselands Woolworths, left, and Coles.
Posting on social media, shoppers also complained of empty shelves at Coles Merrylands and Woolworths Leichhardt in Sydney, as well as Coles Toronto in Lake Macquarie.
On Wednesday afternoon Coles, Woolworths and IGA said they would reinstate product limits for toilet paper, hand sanitiser, paper towels, flour, sugar, pasta, minced meat, long-life milk, eggs and rice at all their Victorian stores.
Coles also reinstated product limits in three NSW stores – Lavington, Albury and Deniliquin – which use Victorian distribution centres.
Costco, which has stores at Marsden Park, Crossroads and Auburn, has reintroduced a one-per-person limit on its toilet paper packs nationwide.
It is believed the panic buying, which was witnessed earlier in the pandemic, is being caused by an uptick in coronavirus cases in Melbourne over the past week.
Victoria reported its ninth day of double-digit case growth on Thursday, with 33 new cases.
A Woolworths spokesperson said they had seen "higher than usual" demand for toilet paper in parts of NSW, and were monitoring the situation.
“We’ve seen pockets of higher-than-usual demand for toilet roll across parts of NSW [on Thursday], but not anywhere near the levels we saw in Victoria," the spokesperson said.
"We’ll keep a close eye on demand over the coming days. We continue to ask customers to buy only what they need, as there is plenty of stock to replenish our shelves.”
Coles has been contacted for comment.