Bread is largely out of stock in supermarkets across parts of the North Island after a "production issue" at Goodman Fielder's Auckland bakery over the weekend. Photo / Dean Purcell
Bread is largely out of stock in supermarkets across parts of the North Island after a "production issue" at Goodman Fielder's Auckland bakery over the weekend. Photo / Dean Purcell
A “production issue” at Goodman Fielder’s commercial Auckland bakery has left supermarkets across parts of the North Island breadless.
A spokesperson for Goodman Fielder, New Zealand’s leading baked goods manufacturer and producer of several household brands, told the Herald bread and bun production was affected by the unspecified issue atthe weekend.
This had now been resolved, and stock levels in stores should return to normal soon.
“Goodman Fielder experienced a production issue at its Auckland bakery on Sunday, which temporarily disrupted the supply of some breads, buns and rolls, across parts of the North Island,” the spokesperson said.
“The bakery is operating at full capacity, and supply is expected to return to normal from tomorrow.
“This was a supply disruption only, and there are no food safety or quality concerns with any products.”
Bread is largely out of stock in supermarkets across parts of the North Island after a "production issue" at Goodman Fielder's Auckland bakery over the weekend. Photo / Supplied
The spokesperson did not elaborate on the nature of their bakery’s production issue, but apologised to customers for the disruption and thanked them for their patience.
George Weston Foods, the producer of bread brands like Tip Top, Bürgen and Ploughman’s, told the Herald the matter was unrelated to their brand.
A Foodstuffs spokesperson said some stores “have experienced lower-than-usual volumes of a few bread lines due to a temporary supply issue affecting parts of the range”.
“Fresh deliveries are arriving in stores today and we expect supply to return to normal levels across affected stores tomorrow,” they said.
Bread shelves across Auckland supermarkets have largely emptied since Sunday after loaf stocks dwindled, with all three major brands – Woolworths, New World and Pak’nSave – installing notices warning shoppers of the expected shortage.
Vogel’s, one of the most popular bread brands in New Zealand, was among those affected, alongside Molenberg, Freya’s and Nature’s Fresh.
“Due to a production issue, Vogel’s bread will be out of stock until further notice from the supplier,” one attached to empty bread shelves at New World Point Chevalier read.
At Pak’nSave Wairau, a similar notice hanging above barren shelves advised customers of their store’s limited bread supply, which was attributed “to a breakdown overnight”.
When approached yesterday, a Woolworths NZ spokesperson said its Auckland stores had been “impacted by a supply issue of Vogel’s bread on Sunday, March 8″.
At the time, Woolworths NZ said it expected the issues to be resolved by today and thanked customers for their “support and patience”.
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