Grocery sales begins to return to ‘pre-Covid levels’

Restrictions on products such as toilet rolls and alcohol have been lifted as sales begin to reduce to pre-COVID-19 levels, according to Coles CEO Steven Cain.

A surge in panic buying in the nascent stage of Australia’s COVID-19 outbreak saw sales figures surge to $8.23 billion in the third quarter – up 13.8 per cent on the same time last year.

In March, Coles announced tougher restrictions on toilet paper purchases as the supermarket giant struggled to cope with a giant spike in demand of essential products.

Mr Cain told Sky News restrictions have been lifted as overall sales begin to fall due to customers changing their habits.

“Sales overall have returned to pre-Covid levels, which is perhaps a little faster than anyone expected,” he said.

“We are seeing a return to home cooking and home baking, people are being inspired by MasterChef.

“We are seeing big sales growth in areas like vegetables and meat, so people are eating more fresh food which is a good thing, but because they are shopping less often we are selling less impulse items.”