Daffy can’t duck this supply crisis
My cat is looking sideways at me and I, in turn, am glancing nervously back. I keep thinking of what someone once said: cats – they’d eat you if they could.
They’re described as domestic pets but anyone who knows cats understands there is a little bit of wild in all of them. And it’s the wild bit I was worried about when I had to break the news to our cat Daffy that the worldwide disruption in supply chains had even impacted her. New Zealand had run out of Whiskas cat biscuits.
Clearly, the local supermarket knew it was a big deal; its apology poster went to great lengths to explain how to wean your moggy off one type of cat food to another. This was no easy feat. Daffy was clearly mad as hell even though I explained, ‘‘We’ve all got to play our part and buy local.’’
Last week we had another burst on the supermarket shelves, panic-buying toilet paper again. But what about cat food? I think I’d rather run out of toilet paper than listen to a starving cat meowing all day.
It’s not just the lack of cat food that’s making me feel uneasy, it’s the growing awareness that our cup no longer runneth over with anything our hearts desire, thanks to supply chain disruptions.
We have been incredibly spoilt with being able to expect access to pretty much anything we want, but the gaps on the supermarket shelves and the shortage of building supplies have given me a wee burst of anxiety that not only has overseas travel been curbed but the availability of international products as well.
The global pandemic hasn’t just challenged Daffy’s biscuit supply, or my favourite French mayo, but seriously impacted on important things like health products.
It has even caused a scarcity of a pantry staple, canned tomatoes, because of a shortage of labour in Italy to complete the harvest.
All this scarcity is a reminder to never take for granted the value we have derived from developing New Zealand as a trading nation.
What worries me is that Covid may not be the only issue that affects Daffy’s supply of Whiskas biscuits.
Longer-term issues such as climate change, for example, could have an impact, or more to the point, how other countries respond to global warming through their policies.
Things such as campaigns to buy local and carbon taxes are likely to be disruptive to both our imports and exports. Not to mention the impacts sea-level rise will have on how products move around.
Because New Zealand is considered at the end of the road for major shipping companies, Daffy and her empty plate are not likely to have any influence over the tough decisions shipping companies have to make about where they go and when.
I tried to explain to Daffy by singing the Rolling Stones’ words ‘‘You can’t always get what you want’’. She responded with a gentle nudge of a claw to the left knee and then something much worse.
As I refreshed my cuppa and contemplated life without international indulgences, Daffy managed to make this halfwritten column disappear off my laptop.
Frantically searching, I came across a document that just said: ‘‘mmmm’’.
Suspicious, I hit the back button and, viola, there was my half-written ode to supply chains: standing on the keyboard was her retaliation for not providing the correct international brands.
So, while contemplating the future of our trading nation, I have learnt two immediate lessons: Never trust a cat, no matter how domestic. And never, never cut off their supply chain.