Coronavirus fears spark toilet paper shortage – but here’s why we won’t run out

With the outbreak of coronavirus, people are stocking up on essential items – like toilet paper – causing many supermarkets to sell out.

There’s plenty of loo paper to go around

But here’s why it’s unlikely that we’ll run out of toilet paper.

Giving an address to Australia yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he has checked in on the state of essential supplies with supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, and he’s confident supply chains and manufactures will keep up with the demand.

A friend sent me this photo at Costco today. A lady with large family at Costco chech-out line. pic.twitter.com/osSJYPLyxo

— Tung Ngo (@tungMLC) March 3, 2020

Read more: Coronavirus and how it affects babies and young kids: what we know so far

Toilet paper purchasing limit

Australia has three major toilet paper suppliers, so there’s plenty in production. A spokesperson for Kimberly-Clark Australia, who makes Kleenex toilet paper, told Lifehacker Australia that they have sufficient supply and the shortages are the result of ‘panic buying’.

“Kleenex toilet paper for Australia and NZ is made at our Mill in South Australia. So while we are seeing increased demand by consumers, we have sufficient supply,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re now working with our customers to replenish supermarket shelves faster.”

To make sure there’s enough toilet paper for everyone, Woolworths is now implementing a toilet paper purchasing limit.

“The purchase limit of four packs per customer transaction applies in-store and online,” they said in a statement.

“It will help shore up stock levels as suppliers ramp up local production and deliveries in response to higher than usual demand.”

What causes people to panic buy?

Behavioural economist David Savage told The World Today that this behaviour is happening all over the world. Still, he doesn’t like it when we use the word ‘panic’ to describe behaviour that is quite logical.

“People want to take control of the situation, and they don’t want to be left short. When we see something coming, we want to plan for it and want to make sure we get through,” he said.

The problem isn’t the buying; it’s doing it last minute that causes issues, explains David.

“So when people do things last minute, it’s not well planned … they over purchase things they don’t need. Or they over purchase things that are not optimal for the duration of time they want to be out and take that product away from other people who could use it,” said David. 

The reason we see empty supermarket shelves is that supply chains work on averages and known consumption habits and according to David, they aren’t “capable to quickly adjust to these massive sorts of short-term shock buying events … [and] this is why you see cleaned-out shelves.”

“The catch is that it actually prompts other people to think: ‘Oh, maybe I should be doing that too.'”