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Supermarkets are urging shoppers not to buy more than they need amid continuing concern over Covid-19-linked stockpiling.
Some shelves were nearly empty in the city’s supermarkets yesterday, as items such as canned goods, pasta, hand-wash, flour, vitamins, sanitary pads and tissues sold out.
A limit of two paracetamol or ibuprofen packets per customer was in place at some supermarkets.
An email sent to Countdown customers yesterday said empty shelves or missing products did not mean something was going to run out, but rather was on its way.
‘‘We’re working closely with our suppliers to keep food moving quickly through the network and make more deliveries to our stores.
‘‘If you’re seeing empty shelves or some products missing, it’s because the product is on its way.
‘‘It doesn’t mean that we’re going to run out.’’
It said the online shopping service was experiencing high demand.
Countdown health and safety general manager Kiri Hannifin said it was taking the evolving situation with Covid-19 very seriously.
‘‘Our stores and online services are very busy, but our teams are managing this demand as best as we can.
‘‘The most important message we can give Kiwis is that there is plenty of food to go around, and there’s no need to stockpile.’’
‘‘We’d encourage Kiwi customers to shop as they normally would and be thoughtful of others to ensure that all New Zealanders have access to the food and products they need.’’