Woolworths will this afternoon (Friday, June 26) reinstate a two pack limit on toilet paper and paper towel in all Australian stores following a recent surge in demand across different parts of the country.
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Coles has re-introduced restrictions at its Victorian stores including one pack per customer limits on toilet paper and paper towel and two pack limits on other items including flour, eggs, mice, rice and pasta.
Woolworths says the move is precautionary and designed to support appropriate social distancing in stores over the weekend.
Woolworths Supermarkets managing director Claire Peters said they continue to see good stock levels flow through its warehouse and into stores.
"We've regrettably started to see elevated demand for toilet roll move outside Victoria in the past 24 hours.
"While the demand is not at the same level as Victoria, we're taking preventative action now to get ahead of any excessive buying this weekend and help maintain social distancing in our stores.
"We have ordered more than 650,000 additional packs of toilet roll into our network, which is an increase of more than 30 percent on our usual volumes.
"We have plenty of stock for all of us, so we encourage our customers to buy only what they need and think of others in the community as they shop this weekend. If customers already have enough toilet roll at home, there is no need to buy more.
"The sooner we see buying patterns return to normal levels, as was the case throughout May and most of June, the quicker we'll be able to wind back limits."
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There are no other product limits other than toilet paper and paper towel outside of Victoria at this time.
On Wednesday, June 24, Woolworths reinstated a purchase limit of two items on toilet paper, hand sanitiser, paper towel, flour, sugar, pasta, mince, long-life milk, eggs and rice across its Victorian stores.
Woolworths has a number of social distancing and safety measures in place across Victoria, with store greeters regularly wiping down trolleys, front of store hosts monitoring social distancing around checkouts, security guards and hand sanitiser stations in each store.
The safety of customers and Woolworths team members remains the key priority.
