Luxury toilet paper brand Quilton will no longer be available to New Zealanders after the manufacturer closed its local plant.
ABC Tissue, who supplies supermarkets with Quilton and Savers toilet paper brands, ceased operations in Auckland in October.
“It’s basically due to the cost of manufacturing in New Zealand, due to the shipping and the pulp coming from other countries,” Pak n Save New Plymouth owner Peter Melody said.
“We saw supply problems during that period.
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“Consumers would have noticed some ‘out of stocks’, but part of it is just running out of those brands and relocating the space to other brands.”
Cottonsoft and Asaleo are the two remaining toilet manufacturers in New Zealand, and Melody believed one of them had ABC Tissue's plant to keep up with demand.
“It put the other two manufacturers in a position where they have to manufacture more to take up the volume.”
ABC Tissue could not be reached for comment, but a generic automatic email confirmed the manufacturer had ceased operation in New Zealand.
“Sadly, ABC Tissue Products (NZ) will be ceasing operation in New Zealand from October 2021,” the email said.
“While we can no longer reply to matters raised in your email, we thank you for supporting our products over the years.”
A Countdown spokeswoman said ABC Tissues gave plenty of notice it was discontinuing the brands, so the supermarket was able to plan around it.
“We’re working closely with our suppliers to mitigate any potential impacts, and to ensure we continue to have a good supply of toilet paper for our customers.”
Melody said all supply issues should be evened out by now, but with more Covid-19 cases popping up in the country, panic buying could cause a further shortage.
“Maybe it would be a good idea to go into the business of manufacturing bidets in New Zealand,” he joked.
