Albury supermarket left without Dare iced coffee as owner and distributor fight
A regional supermarket owner has lamented a broken relationship with a key distributor as a popular flavoured milk drink was not supplied to his store.
Norris Park IGA Plus Liquor owner Gary Evans put up signs around his store apologising to customers and saying his supplier of Dare iced coffee “has had his feelings hurt” when the beverage vanished from shelves earlier this week.
The supermarket in North Albury near the Victoria-NSW border had had supply issues with its local dairy products distributor since October, Mr Evans told 2GB Radio.
Lavington-based The Juicy Cow had the sole rights to sell Dare iced coffee, which is owned by Bega, to the area, Mr Evans said.
“Even if we’ve gone to a different distributor or a different dairy, we can’t get it because they also have to buy it from him (The Juicy Cow),” he said.
“The biggest issue with all this is communication. We will ring, we will email, but we don’t get any return phone calls or anything like that.”
The rift began in October when flavoured milk was not supplied to the IGA in time for its weekend deliveries, without prior warning, Mr Evans said.
It is understood supply chain issues and short-staffing have been behind some of the problems with distribution of the beverages.
Norris Park IGA told NCA NewsWire the impasse “had been sorted out” and its shelves would again be stocked with iced coffee next week.
Mr Evans said the drinks were “really popular with the tradies and the locals”.
“Again, it’s a good milk, he’s the only distributor, and he won’t even talk to us,” he said.
“Look, he has exclusive rights and, really, he can do what he wants when he wants to.”
NCA NewsWire has reached out to The Juicy Cow for comment.
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