[aussiblue]

If it's available switching to online shopping for your groceries can also save you money on your weekly shopping as:

a) it stops the so called "impulse buying" or unplanned purchases of unneeded "specials" or promotional items often placed near the checkouts or at the end of rows:
b) it's easier to compare prices and price per gm or kgm of competing products online;
c) shelf placement has no impact on your purchase; supermarkets usually give the most prominent and easiest to see and access shelf space to products that give them the most profit (so often the most expensive ones); and
d) in WA at least at the moment half the things you order won't actually be in stock so won't be delivered and your bill will be halved (with the added benefit of a forced diet - back to the daily bowl of poorhouse gruel) per : https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/super...act-c-14233888

Supermarket shelves remain empty across WA weeks after Goldfields flooding despite promise of no impact Claire SadlerThe West Australian
Tue, 9 April 2024 2:00AM

Liberal leader Libby Mettam has called out the State Government for its ‘complete and utter failure’ to strengthen WA’s supply chains as supermarket shelves remain empty due to severe flooding. Credit: The West Australian

WA Liberal Leader Libby Mettam has called out the Cook Government for its “complete and utter failure” to strengthen supply chains as supermarket shelves remain empty more than a week after a vital freight route — forced shut due to severe flooding — reopened.

The Trans-Australian Railway line and the Eyre Highway were forced to close after parts of the Goldfields received more than six months’ worth of rain in 24 hours last month.

The rail line, which connects WA to the Eastern States, closed on March 10 after it was covered by floodwater near Rawlinna, causing supply issues for WA’s major supermarkets.

Almost three weeks later, the rail line opened at noon on Easter Saturday.
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There were hopes WA’s empty supermarket shelves would quickly be replenished, however when The West Australian visited Coles and Woolworths stores across Perth on Monday — nine days after the reopening — almost every aisle still had bare shelves.

Each store in major centres including Midland, Joondalup and Innaloo had shelves plastered with notices apologising for the stock issues.
Supermarkets across Perth are experiencing stock shortages due to flooding and other issues. Pictured is Coles Claremont The West Australian

Lauren Price

Some of the items missing from shelves included pantry essentials like varieties of pasta, breakfast spreads such as peanut butter, cooking oils and bottled water.

Shoppers who were looking for popular brands of margarine, yogurt and cheese were also left empty-handed.

Pantry essentials weren’t the only items missing, with just a small amount of laundry detergents, hair, and makeup products to choose from.
Bare shelves at Coles and Woolworths due to significant flooding on the Trans-Australian Railway line.
Bare shelves at Coles and Woolworths due to significant flooding on the Trans-Australian Railway line. Credit: The West Australian
Each store in major centres including Midland, Joondalup and Innaloo had shelves plastered with notices apologising for the stock issues.
Each store in major centres including Midland, Joondalup and Innaloo had shelves plastered with notices apologising for the stock issues.

Credit: The West Australian





Also nowhere to be found were a number of fruit and vegetables including green beans, cabbage and watermelon.

A Coles spokesman conceded that a backlog of deliveries meant stores were still in short supply but said shoppers could expect to see more stock over the coming days.

“With the railway now reopened into WA, we have stock on its way into the State for our teams to replenish our WA stores with,” he said.

“As the backlog of deliveries via rail clears, customers can expect to see increased stock arrivals in stores over the coming days.

“We are work closely with our suppliers to get deliveries into the State by road and rail and customers can expect to see supply levels continue to improve.”

WA Liberal Leader Libby Mettam has called out the Cook Government for its “complete and utter failure” to strengthen supply chains as supermarket shelves remain empty more than a week after a vital freight route — forced shut due to severe flooding — reopened.

The Trans-Australian Railway line and the Eyre Highway were forced to close after parts of the Goldfields received more than six months’ worth of rain in 24 hours last month.

The rail line, which connects WA to the Eastern States, closed on March 10 after it was covered by floodwater near Rawlinna, causing supply issues for WA’s major supermarkets.

Almost three weeks later, the rail line opened at noon on Easter Saturday.
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There were hopes WA’s empty supermarket shelves would quickly be replenished, however when The West Australian visited Coles and Woolworths stores across Perth on Monday — nine days after the reopening — almost every aisle still had bare shelves.

Each store in major centres including Midland, Joondalup and Innaloo had shelves plastered with notices apologising for the stock issues.
Supermarkets across Perth are experiencing stock shortages due to flooding and other issues. Pictured is Coles Claremont The West Australian
exclusive
WA News
Major rail line reopens as supermarket shelves go bare

Lauren Price

Some of the items missing from shelves included pantry essentials like varieties of pasta, breakfast spreads such as peanut butter, cooking oils and bottled water.

Shoppers who were looking for popular brands of margarine, yogurt and cheese were also left empty-handed.

Pantry essentials weren’t the only items missing, with just a small amount of laundry detergents, hair, and makeup products to choose from.
Bare shelves at Coles and Woolworths due to significant flooding on the Trans-Australian Railway line.
Bare shelves at Coles and Woolworths due to significant flooding on the Trans-Australian Railway line. Credit: The West Australian
Each store in major centres including Midland, Joondalup and Innaloo had shelves plastered with notices apologising for the stock issues.
Each store in major centres including Midland, Joondalup and Innaloo had shelves plastered with notices apologising for the stock issues. Credit: The West Australian

Also nowhere to be found were a number of fruit and vegetables including green beans, cabbage and watermelon.

A Coles spokesman conceded that a backlog of deliveries meant stores were still in short supply but said shoppers could expect to see more stock over the coming days.

“With the railway now reopened into WA, we have stock on its way into the State for our teams to replenish our WA stores with,” he said.

“As the backlog of deliveries via rail clears, customers can expect to see increased stock arrivals in stores over the coming days.

“We are work closely with our suppliers to get deliveries into the State by road and rail and customers can expect to see supply levels continue to improve.”
Triple-length road trains will be allowed on roads linking the State to the east after WA, South Australian and Federal regulators gave green lights.


A Woolworths spokeswoman said getting items like cheese and margarine back into stores was a priority.

“Our team is working to replenish stock on shelves across Perth, with a constant flow of deliveries coming through on rail and road again following recent weather events,” she said.

“Off the back of prolonged rail closures, it will take a few weeks to return to normal supply levels. Chilled items like cheese and margarine are a priority and we’re continuing to offer as many alternative options to our customers’ preferred brands in the meantime.

“We’d like to thank customers for their understanding.”

Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said impacts lasted longer than initially expected.

“Advice regarding the time-frames for the outage were being provided by the Australian Rail Track Corporation and unfortunately the impacts lasted longer than initially expected,” she said.

“This was due to the speed at which flood waters receded from the impacted areas east of Kalgoorlie.
Rescue efforts for a family of seven stranded in the outback since Sunday are underway after they were found safe and well on Wednesday.
updated


“During the outage we granted licences for B-triple road trains to travel on the State’s road network to assist in keeping stock levels up.”

A taskforce was set up to review the State’s supply chains after flooding knocked out the Trans-Australian railway line in 2022.

Ms Saffioti said a number of changes were made since the taskforce including supermarkets stocking more inventory in WA to withstand shocks to the supply chains.

However, she said resilience remained a “critical issue the nation needs to address, particularly on the Trans-Australia Railway”.

“The reality is many of the extreme weather events that impact this rail line occur outside of WA but we’re always wearing the most significant impact,” she said.

“We will continue to advocate for better resilience of this rail line at a national level.”
Flooding at Rawlinna Station
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But the issue prompted Ms Mettam to accuse Ms Saffioti of creating a “half-baked taskforce”, which in turn has caused a food supply crisis.

“Western Australia is in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and the Cook Labor Government are further exacerbating these pains by failing to prepare our freight network, leading to empty supermarket shelves,” she said.

“The WA Shipping and Supply Chain Taskforce promised to strengthen the state’s supply chains in preparation for future natural disasters. It’s clear that after two-years, the response from this government has been a complete and utter failure.

“We need to be developing a resilient system that includes road, rail, air and sea to ensure we’re protected when these events occur.”

New West Foods managing director Damon Venoutsos also called for the State Government to increase storage for stock in WA.

“I’m calling on the government to look at ways to increase stock holding in WA by setting up independent storage solutions for frozen, chilled, and ambient storage in WA,” he said.

“Rita Saffioti said the weather was once in a lifetime in 2022 and now it’s happened again three years later. We need more storage in WA.”

The latest disruption to WA’s supermarket shelves comes after major floods in 2022 severed the rail link for nearly three weeks, leaving shelves bare.