Extra special toilet paper
First it was stockpiling, then it was a shortage. Now toilet paper is never on special.
New Zealand’s remaining toilet manufacturers, Cottonsoft and Essity (formerly Asaleo), have not been able to offer discounted retail prices on their products since the Omicron outbreak.
A Cottonsoft spokesperson said Covid disruptions caused havoc and demand was often beyond the ability of manufacturers to respond, which caused shortages.
‘‘In 2021, global logistics and supply problems impacted raw material availability for the whole industry, and Cottonsoft are still using our contingency supply plans,’’ she said. ‘‘Because of this, some manufacturing plants, including ours, could not operate consistently, and product supply to customers became inconsistent and unreliable.’’
The cost of manufacturing toilet paper, which is made from two different types of tree pulp, forced luxury toilet paper brand Quilton manufacturer ABC Tissue to cease operations in Auckland last year.
Kleenex also stopped importing to New Zealand.
The Cottonsoft spokesperson said the move exacerbated the problem, and because major promotions increased demand, it would have been unable to meet supply if specials were offered.
‘‘Pricing is likely to remain elevated until the global supply chain improves and other inflationary pressures ease.’’
A Countdown spokesperson said it had worked with Quilton Australia to supply the product to New Zealanders despite no longer having a local source.
‘‘Quilton toilet paper is a favourite among our customers so, after Quilton New Zealand notified us they would no longer be operating here, they supported our team to work with Quilton Australia to bring stock into New Zealand to ensure we could make stock available in our stores.’’
But it still hadn’t beefed up supply enough for the supermarket to be able to legally put toilet paper on special.
Under the Fair Trading Act, retailers can not advertise a special on a product when there is not enough stock to keep up with demand.
‘‘These shortages have been driven by issues faced by all of our toilet paper suppliers with sourcing raw materials, shipping and manufacturing capacity,’’ she said.