Supermarket cheesed off at stock loss

YARRA Glen’s IGA supermarket was forced to throw out $40,000 worth of stock last week after a power failure left the store without electricity for more than eight hours.
The blackout, which occurred before 7pm on Australia Day, left the supermarket without power to run its freezers and refrigerators until after 3am on Friday, 27 January.
The supermarket’s manager, Brad McBride, said the decision to discard the entire contents of the store’s delicatessen cabinets, and meat and dairy fridges and freezers, was heartbreaking but necessary.
“It’s sad to have to throw out about a third of the store’s stock, but we were not prepared to take any chances with health regulations,” he said.
Included in the spoilt stock were thousands of dollars worth of unopened boxes of yoghurt, butter and cheese, cartons of milk, packets of frozen seafood and vegetables, and trays of meat.
On top of the stock losses, Mr McBride said staff had to organise special deliveries to replace the ruined produce.
“We had to ring all our distributors and arrange for them to make special deliveries and even then, it will take at least a week until the fridges and freezers are full again,” he said.
“It’s been a whole lot of fuss and extra work and we’re just grateful that our customers have been understanding.”
Mr McBride said last Thursday’s blackout was the latest in a string of power failures, and that he was angered by the slow response time from SP AusNet, the power company responsible for the supply of electricity to the supermarket.
“We’ve had the power go out 20 times or more over the last six months, and three or four times just this week,” he said.
“How come we lose power so frequently and what takes the power company so long to respond?
“I don’t understand how power companies of the 21st century can’t keep up with demand.”
Mr McBride said the supermarket would be seeking compensation from SP AusNet for the stock loss.
SP AusNet media adviser Emma Daniell-Edwards said last week’s extreme weather conditions delayed the resumption of power to the supermarket.
“In the weather conditions of last week, namely the total fire ban, we put safety and the CFA’s requirements first and switched off our auto-reclose system in case a tree blew across a line in the storm and sparked to cause fire,” she said.
“This resulted in our crews having to patrol all the line before restoring power to ensure nothing across a line could cause a fire.”
Ms Daniell-Edwards said the power company understood the impact a power outage can have on residents and businesses in the area, and that crews worked hard to ensure power was returned as soon as possible.
“We encourage anyone who may have any questions regarding the restoration of power last week to call our faults hotline and speak to one of our friendly staff who will be happy to assist,” she said.