‘You might not be able to make spaghetti bolognese tonight, but you won’t starve’
John Cummings from the Independent Grocers Association is pleading with shoppers to adjust their expectations from supermarkets as supply chains try to catch up with demand.
Mr Cummings told Gareth Parker on Mornings that supermarkets were essentially already rationing with caps on how many items customers can buy and it seems like customers aren’t changing their expectations of what is possible from supermarkets as logistics are stretched.
“The warehouse we buy from, you’ve got two or three designated delivery days and those are your delivery days,” he said.
“The warehouse we buy from has got some 450 customers – they can’t pick 450 customers orders in one day, it’s not possible. Coles and Woolworths cannot pick every store’s order in one day, and they haven’t got the trucks to deliver them if they did.”
I can’t stress enough that 97 percent of what we sell in supermarkets is manufactured in Australia. Ultimately, we can feed every body in Australia. There may be an inconvenience, you might go to your supermarket today and they mightn’t have mince, that might mean you can’t make spaghetti bolognese tonight but you won’t starve.”
Older people can show us a thing or two about what to buy in a crisis. This after their special one hour session. @6pr #restockplease pic.twitter.com/SNfnrjkO9P
— Philippa Meagher (@philippameagh1) March 17, 2020
(Pic: Philippa Meagher)
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