Canned goods still selling faster than stores can stock

EIGHT days after supertyphoon “Yolanda” struck Central and Eastern Visayas, Cebu City residents are still stocking up on noodles, canned goods and rice, nearly emptying shelves of downtown malls.

At noon yesterday, the supermarkets of Metro Colon, Colonnade Mall and Gaisano Main had run out of instant noodles with only pancit canton and other pasta products available.

Metro Colon ran out of canned sardines at noon while Colonnade Mall and Gaisano had a few cans of spicy corned tuna. Rice stocks were also depleted early.

The speed of buying outpaces the stores’ normal inventory levels, a temporary trend, assures trade officials.

Provincial Director Nelia Navarro of the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) said it was just a matter of replenishing the supplies since distributors are ready to stock shelves upon demand.

“In retail, they only had goods for one to two days and it is only a matter of replenishing. I’m sure they still have a lot of supplies in their warehouses,” Navarro said.

To prevent future shortage of goods, Navarro said she will meet with all the distributors on Nov. 20.

Navarro said they cannot stop people from buying goods in bulk since most of these purchases are for relief goods intended for typhoon victims in northern Cebu.

With the unexpected demand, the normal inventory period of 30-60 days for retail stores was consumed in a week.

Earlier Philip Tan, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the spike in demand for canned and ready-to-eat goods is temporary.

Re-stocking won’t be a problem since Cebu is a commercial hub that can source supplies easily.