Bread shortage hits North Island supermarkets
It's a sandwich lover's worst nightmare. North Island supermarkets are bracing for a bread shortage as loaf makers walk off the job over pay and conditions. A reader was forced to resort to buns for her kids' lunchboxes today after finding Hobsonville Countdown supermarket shelves all but bare of loaves of bread on Tuesday night.
"Bread aisle at Countdown tonight ... #breadshortage?" Signs have gone up in other West Auckland supermarkets warning customers of a national bread shortage. "Due to Tip Top going on strike there is limited bread available. We hope to have a full range soon," the signs read. Countdown spokeswoman Charlotte Mee confirmed "supply issues" were affecting their stock. "Bread is always incredibly popular at any time of the day but unfortunately at the moment we're experiencing a few supply issues in the Upper North Island for some brands of sliced bread.
"There are plenty of buns, loaves and other bread products from our bakery and they're almost always available for customers as we bake throughout the day based on demand in each store." The shortage is linked to industrial action by more than 100 FIRST Union members at George Weston Foods' Tip Top bakeries in Otahuhu and Wiri.
The strike action meant much of the North island faced potential bread shortages. "Tip Top bakery workers are fighting to put bread on their own tables after years of negligible pay rises and no recognition of the family time they have to sacrifice to enable the company's 24/7 operation," union spokeswoman Anita Rosentreter told.
George Weston Foods general manager of baking Mark Bosomworth said the strike action meant the company was only likely to produce half its usual bread production on Tuesday and Wednesday, affecting North Island supply. Many customers would notice a slim pickings on supermarket shelves but Wellington and South Island supplies were unlikely to be affected. The company was disappointed with the union's action. Many of the claims had been settled. "We pay competitive rates, we provide good training and we provide a safe, modern work environment for our staff," he told.
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Christmas Eve busiest shopping day of the year with more than 500,000 sales
Busiest shopping day of the year
Peak time 12 noon-1 pm - 563,303 transactions
Per second peak - 167 transactions
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Number of sales beats Black Friday, but lowest Christmas Eve in six years
Christmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9,745 sales a minute at its peak.
Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7 percent on a year ago.
The company's network covers about three-quarters of the electronic terminals in operation.
Worldline did not have a dollar value for spending, but the peak number of transactions was the lowest for the past six years and well shy of the record 679,436 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Earlier this month it noted rising sales in the first three weeks of the month, but they remained 1.3 percent lower than 2024, with most parts of the country trailing the previous year's spending.
Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6 percent higher for the year.
Retail spending has been subdued as households have remained cautious because of high prices and a slow benefit from lower interest rates, and as well as concerns about the soft labour market.
However, recent surveys have shown improving consumer sentiment with ANZ bank's monthly report showing confidence at its highest level in four years.
Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago.
Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.
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