“It seems like milk is the new toilet paper,” said Tobi Weightman late Wednesday morning, Nov. 17.
Sales were high the previous day at grocery stores in Quesnel as panic buying saw shelves emptied from fresh produce, milk, meat and bread.
The owner and operator of Extra Foods on Maple Drive witnessed it with her own eyes as consumers worried by highway closures in B.C.’s flood devastated south rushed in to stockpile goods on Nov. 16.
“We could sense the panic buying so the store manager he had printed some signage,” Weightman said, noting they had discussed limits on certain products.
“We’ve noticed that with panic buying, we have people that purchase stuff whether they need it or not.”
Weightman described one customer who wanted to purchase five heads of romaine lettuce Wednesday morning. Staff, however, were able to convince her to reconsider her purchase.
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“We had a discussion with her, and she was Ok with just buying one, and I put four back on the shelf just so there was enough lettuce for other people that are coming.”
The panic buying reminded Weightman of when grocery shelves were emptied in March 2020 when the novel coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Each day four trucks of dry goods would be delivered to the store from a warehouse in Vancouver four days a week, and with the increased demand, Weightman said they were able to boost the number of trucks up to five. Frozen food and fresh food deliveries come six days a week.
While the torrential rains in B.C.’s south have currently blocked major highway routes, trucks have been rerouted.
“Within 24 hours, Loblaws was able to reroute from the Vancouver warehouse to Alberta,” Weightman said.
“So every store in B.C. that draws from the Vancouver warehouse that can’t get it, we now have stock coming from Alberta, and it’s just amazing to see how transport is able to change that within 24 hours.”
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A couple of trucks including one carrying milk, lettuce and meat was to arrive at Extra Foods on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
More deliveries were set to arrive tomorrow.
“I know the other stores are actively looking to get it in as well, so we will not leave this town short with what they need, especially milk and baby food,” Weightman said, adding there is no need to panic.
“I think people panic because they don’t realize that we are preparing in the background, and the more that in the event that this happens, more often we will show the customers that we’re able to reroute our warehouses and provide them with stock within say 48 hours.”
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