Plastic bag ban creates basket case

Supermarkets are reminding customers that stealing store property is a crime as shopping baskets increasingly go missing as single-use plastic bags are phased out.

A Pak’nSave Napier customer said he was told as many as 285 baskets had gone missing with just 15 left from about 300 on January 1.

Countdown Napier store manager Philippa Reston said it had also been a problem for them in the first few weeks, but had “eased off ”.

She estimated more than 20 had gone missing.

“We lost heaps, but we were kind of prepared for it because we had other stores go live prior to us and they had given us a bit of a heads-up that might occur.”

In preparation the store ordered extra.

“There are always going to be people out there who wreck it, but everyone else has embraced it . . . they know why we’ve done it and are very positive about the change,” Reston said.

A Countdown spokeswoman confirmed some stores around the country had seen baskets go missing since moving away from plastic bags late last year, but she was “happy to say that customers seem to be adjusting really well to the change”.

“Some stores have had a few teething issues with baskets going missing but we’ve seen that settle down as customers are getting into the habit of remembering their bags.”

Foodstuffs New Zealand, which owns Pak’nSave and New World, also confirmed there had been basket theft issues in recent weeks.

Head of external relations Antoinette Laird wanted to remind shoppers that “stealing store property is a crime”.

She said there were a number of back-up options available in store if shoppers left their reusable bags at home by mistake.

“We advise shoppers that if they can’t carry their groceries out to the car on their own, to please ask one of the friendly staff and they would be happy to assist. Likewise, we have two types of trolley for use.”

The removal from checkouts at the beginning of this year gives shoppers six months to adjust to shopping with their reusable bags, as all New Zealand retailers are banned from selling or giving them away from July 1.