Australian supply chains are starting to show signs of distress as supermarkets begin imposing purchase limits

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• Supermarkets have started re-introducing purchase limits as RAT shortages turn the screw on Australian supply chains.
• Coles has introduced two-pack limits on mince meat and chicken, while Woolworths is monitoring the situation.
• TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said on Wednesday that Australian supply chains would continue to buckle without free access to RATs.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Australian supply chains are starting to hobble as a nationwide shortage of rapid antigen tests has led to sparsely populated supermarket shelves. 

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Some supermarkets have re-introduced purchase limits on select items to manage patchy supply, as transport workers like truck drivers and port workers are forced off the job with COVID-19. 

Coles took swift action this week with the introduction of a two-pack limit on mince meat, chicken breast and thigh, as well as sausages, on top of the one-pack purchase limit the chain already had in place for rapid antigen tests. 

A spokesperson for Coles told Business Insider Australia surging Omicron case numbers have struck a blow to supply chains already fractured by shipping pallet shortages and a reduction in transport capacity.

“This has led to disruptions in deliveries from our suppliers, which in turn has resulted in product outages across all departments in our stores,” they said. 

“While we are working with our suppliers to improve availability, we expect it will be several weeks before we are able to fully recover,” they said.

“We have also seen an increased number of our own team being required to isolate, and we continue to monitor team member availability across our business.”

Shoppers at local and major supermarkets across New South Wales and Victoria have in some cases been faced with empty shelves, just days after the Transport Workers Union warned the cost and scarcity of rapid antigen tests could unleash chaos on supply chains.

TWU national secretary Michael Kaine told Business Insider Australia on Wednesday that Australian supply chains would continue to buckle unless Prime Minister Scott Morrison moved to make rapid antigen tests freely and widely available. 

“Supply chains are starting to grind to a halt because of the virus. Now, these RATs are needed to clearly manage the spread of the virus because we need transport supply chains to be safe,” he said. 

“And for so long as free and readily available testing isn’t there, then we’re going to continue to maximise the spread of the virus.”

Earlier this week, the Australian Meat Industry Council called on state and federal governments to make immediate changes to current policy settings as the industry faces an “unpredictable wave of staffing unpredictability”. 

“As COVID spreads in the community, our industry workers are unable to present for work for at least seven days should someone in their family or household test positive, under the current national COVID protocol,” said AMIC CEO Patrick Hutchinson.

“The Australian meat industry needs assurance that it can continue to operate via access to Public Health Order exemptions for those that are asymptomatic close contacts, access to free or low-cost RATs, and prioritised PCR testing and turnarounds, so that we can keep on feeding the people,” he said. 

“We don’t want to see a return of the early 2020 situation, with widespread supply shortages exacerbated by panic buying.”   

At Woolworths, supply chain distress has so far been limited to the retail giant’s stores in NSW, where delivery delays are impacting some products at certain times throughout the day. 

A spokesperson for Woolworths told Business Insider Australia that it won’t move to impose purchase limits just yet, as customers continue to shop without panic. 

“Our customers have been shopping in reasonable quantities and are only buying what they need, so we don’t believe product limits are needed at this stage,” they said. “We will continue to closely monitor product availability across our stores.”

“While we are experiencing some delays with stock deliveries to our stores due to COVID-19 impacts across the supply chain, deliveries continue to arrive daily,” they said.

“Stores may have reduced availability of some products at points throughout the day before they receive their next delivery, however we’re continuing to restock our shelves as often as possible.”

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