Toilet paper supply is safe – Montreal supermarkets, pharmacies, depanneurs and other stores have been inundated with scores of people stocking up on toilet paper, especially since the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 virus a pandemic. Prompted by scenes on television or pictures on social media, they have been filling up their shopping carts with more than enough cases, leaving many shelves empty. While it makes complete sense to make sure we have enough on hand in our homes and businesses during this unprecedented event, some people have taken it to another level, hoarding cases upon cases of the coveted rolls to keep themselves well wiped for a year, leaving nothing for other people who also need some. Situations like this can bring out the best or the worst in people – the latter being prompted by fear. However, the panic is unwarranted.
Kruger Products, Canada’s largest manufacture of toilet paper (their brands include Cashmere, White Swan, Purex as well as Scotties facial tissue and paper towels) said their factories are working overtime to meet a surge in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and that any shortages will be short-lived. Their chief executive officer, Dino Bianco, explained that what we are seeing in shortages is simply because they have not been able to meet the spike in demand quickly enough. While the stockpiling to prepare for COVID-19 may leave some store shelves bare, Canadians should not panic over the possibility the country could run out of toilet paper. For one thing, the amount of toilet paper one uses in a day will not change, with or without a viral pandemic, and he believes the tissue industry will be able to recover soon, asking people to be calm while stocks are resupplied in the coming days and weeks.
Another reason so many people have not been able to find toilet paper, is the time of the day deliveries are made to the stores. This past week there were people lined up outside of stores early in the morning, before opening hours, waiting to get their hands on the coveted tissue. However, as the increase in demand slows down as people use what they have stockpiled at home, those who have been unable to find any should soon be able to find enough on the shelves – and perhaps at lower prices. The ‘bottom’ line, panicking to the point of leaving others without a basic need, is fully unwarranted.
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