SUNRAYSIA is experiencing a freezer shortage as supermarket panic buying, prompted by COVID-19 fears, leads to more people needing a place to store their food.
Harvey Norman has sold out of freezers, while both Jack Abell Betta Home Living and The Good Guys are significantly low on stock.
Harvey Norman electrical proprietor Evan Welke said they heard there might be a freezer shortage so they ordered more.
“Within about a week we were out of stock of pretty much everything,” he said.
“Chest freezers went out first because they’re the best value for money for size and after that people went onto the upright freezers and they’re a little bit more expensive, but people still purchased them because they needed a freezer.”
Jack Abell Betta Home Living store manager Darren Nichols said in 35 years of retail he had never experienced anything like this.
“We’ve got freezers on order but there’s no stock from suppliers, stock’s not due until late April now,” he said.
Mr Nichols said they had a couple of upright freezers left, which were a bit more expensive than what most people wanted to spend.
The Good Guys confirmed they still had freezers in stock but they were selling quickly.
People are spending anywhere from $400 to $1500 on a freezer.
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Mr Nichols said some people came into the store distressed about supermarket shortages on items such as nappies, while others were calm.
But Mr Welke said it was not just Sunraysia experiencing a freezer shortage, it was a national issue.
“Out of the big four brands that we normally carry we can’t even restock at the moment, they’re out of stock nationally,” he said.
“Hopefully we’ll see some in dribs and drabs in the next few weeks but there’s no guarantee.”
In the meantime Harvey Norman was taking names of people who would like to purchase a freezer but is not accepting deposits or money.
“We’ll just give them a call to check if they still need one when we finally see some,” Mr Welke said.
Messaging from the Australian and Victorian governments, as well as the major supermarkets remains clear: do not panic buy, buy only what you need.
