It’s our first winter in two years without strict COVID restrictions and influenza cases are well and truly spiking. The supply can simply not keep up with the snotty demand, and Coles, Woolworths and, in some reports, Aldi, have some seriously empty tissue shelves as a result right now.
It reeks of 2020 toilet paper drama, to be honest. And just like that year we try not to speak of but consistently speak of, there are other products that are hard to get your hands on right now, too.
I thought, “there’s a cold going around” was just a thing people said, but when I went to woolies for tissues and panadol, both sections were almost entirely empty 🤯 🤧
— Ricardo Enrique (@ricardo3nrique) June 9, 2022
“Given the recent cold snap and early start to the flu season, there’s quite a lot of demand for a range of medicinal and paper goods products including cold and flu tablets, throat lozenges and tissues,” a Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au.
“While customers might notice that the availability of some of their preferred brands might be limited, we continue to offer a wide range of alternatives across these ranges.”
Can I ask, do you not do the 4 ply anymore as it is some weeks since I have been able to purchase. Also, the tissues seem to be in short supply at Coles
— Sally Burke (@SallyBurke12) June 14, 2022
Coles echoed the sentiment that essentially we can’t be picky right now. A spokesperson told news.com.au:
“Customers may notice that some stores might not have their usual brands of facial tissues in stock at the moment. We want to assure customers that there will be enough stock to get them through this flu season. We are encouraging shoppers to be flexible if the products they would usually purchase are not available.”
Kimberly-Clark, which is the manufacturer for Kleenex, reported a 10% increase in demand for its products late last month. This is in relation to pre-pandemic times but also a sustained one for 2022. The ABC reported that Kimberley-Clark is shipping out over 15,000 pallets of product a week. The company cites pallet and truck availability as an issue.
In 2022 alone, there have been over 87,000 influenza cases, with over 50% of those diagnosed over the last fortnight.
Looks like we’ll need to find something other than a tissue for our issues.
