By Romy Stephens
Numerous major supermarkets have eased product limits on items such as rice and toilet paper, as customer demand moderates and supply returns.
It comes after restrictions were put in place due to panic buying and stripped supermarket shelves amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
From 29 April, Woolworths will relax limits on toilet paper, rice, hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes.
While limits will remain on these products, these categories will have their limits eased from one per shop to either two or four per shop.
In some categories product limits will be lifted entirely, with pasta, frozen vegetables, tissues, baby wipes, baked beans, canned spaghetti, paper towels and disposable gloves no longer having any purchase limits applied.
Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Claire Peters said the company was pleased to be able to ease product limits.
“This is a positive sign following weeks of hard work from our teams, customers and significant support from our suppliers in meeting this unprecedented demand,” she said.
“We are now in a position where our customers will see better product availability across the categories that have been challenged by the increased demand over the past two months.
“While product availability is getting better and better each day, it will take some time for us to get back to full supply. Customers may still notice certain products in shorter supply from time to time as we continue to adjust our operations to this ‘new normal’.”
Coles will also remove certain limits and continue to look toward easing others.
“We are pleased to be able to remove purchase limits at Coles on key household staples like toilet paper and paper towel, and expect to remove further limits as customer demand continues to stabilise and more categories see supply levels return to normal,” a Coles spokesperson said.
“We are grateful for the efforts of our suppliers to deliver significantly increased volumes to meet the recent unexpected surge in customer demand, and to our customers for their patience and understanding.”
