Supplies of Greek goodies for Easter are not going dry up this year as suppliers are saying prices are steady and you can still get what you need.
“Three weeks ago it was chaos, there was panic buying for no reason and it was hard to keep up with demand. We had to work overtime and even on Saturdays. Still we managed,” said John Baloukas the deliveries manager for G&A Foods which imports foods for Melbourne delis, shop s and supermarkets.
“With us we are still busy with Greek Easter coming up – everyone wants their red egg dyes, paximathia, tomato pastes, among other things, and all the delis are stocking up, said Mr Baloukas.
“The ports are still open and the prices have not gone up,” he said. The company delivers to about 20 areas in Melbourne each day and some changes have been done in the way the business operates.
“One person does the whole delivery for one area. The driver will wear gloves, a mask, and also use a sanitiser. He will keep wiping down the truck all the time.
“For us we are still busy but things will drop after Easter. People are not working and they are waiting for Jobkeeper payments to come through so they will not be spending as much as they used to.
“Still people need food to cook with from the delis and supermarkets and not just get it at fast food outlets all the time,” said Mr Baloukas.
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Tina Vasilidas, the office administrator at Deltas Sales at Brunswick in Melbourne, said that things were not as busy as they normally were this time of the year.
“Sales to restaurants and cafes have dropped (because of the social distancing measures brought in to counter the spread of COVID-19) so things are quite different now.
She said sales of cooking oils and cheeses were doing well.
“We have been fairly lucky because we are still going. Food is always needed so we are still needed.
Delta receives stock from Greece, Bulgaria and Denmark.
“Our containers are still coming in. The stock is slowly coming in but it also goes quickly,” she said. “We have been affected but not to the point of despair,” said Ms Vasilidas.
She said that after Greek Easter the company would close for two weeks but that there would still be someone on site to prepare stock for people to pick up in Brunswick, Melbourne.
As things are, now is a good time to go for fish as prices have dropped dramatically thanks to COVID-19.
Evagelos Zahos of Aptus Sea Foods which operates from South Melbourne Market said seafood prices have fallen to levels he last saw in the 1980s.
“Prawns were going for $50 a kilogram but now they are going for $30/kg which is a very good price considering that lamb and other meat prices are going up.
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“The western Easter was busy and I think we will be having a busy Greek Easter, with everyone isolated at home, they many look to celebrate Easter in a different way.”
And Mr Zahos is adapting to doing things in a different way since the anti-Covid-19 measures have been introduced. He works at South Melbourne market on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday with customers now either asking for home deliveries or picking up their orders at the market. Much of the ordering is now being done via the company website.
“We have had to adapt. We never used to do deliveries but now we have done up to 100 deliveries a day. It’s click and go – some come at 4pm to collect their orders (at the market)
“We have had to broaden our business and cater for our customers’ needs, some of whom are in isolation
“ It is an unknown (what lies ahead) but we may build on this. We may be going back to the years when the milkman delivered milk to your door and the fishmonger brought his wares to the neighbourhoods.
“We expect things to quieten down after Easter, they normally do over winter but if restrictions are lifted things may be different. We do not know,” said Mr Zahos
For Debbie Papadimitriou of Olympian Speciality foods the demand for the firm’s products will remain high after Easter.
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“A lot of people are cooking at home and they need ingredients. For example there is no flour in the supermarkets because the demand has been so high. Until the pandemic is over the will demand in the food supply industry, said Ms Papadimitriou.
“Everyone now is cooking as no one is going out and they are staying at home.”
“We are a small business so we can only do so much but as owners we are putting in 16- to 18-hour days to cover and manage the operation. We do not want the people in community to be without.”