Singapore's largest supermarket chain FairPrice has urged customers not to hoard anti-mosquito products and to buy only what they need.
Sales of these products have ballooned to 10 times the usual number, after local transmissions of Zika were reported here, with more than 115,000 items sold between last Thursday and Sunday.
The supermarket chain, which has 130 stores here, said last Friday that some anti-mosquito products were out of stock.
But in a statement yesterday, FairPrice said it has placed an additional order for 175,000 pieces of various types of insecticides and repellents, which will be delivered in batches to all its stores this week.
"We want to assure the community that additional stocks of anti- mosquito products are being sent to our stores and we will keep prices stable," said its chief executive Seah Kian Peng yesterday.
"There is no need to stock up as we will continue to bring in more supplies and we urge customers to buy only what they need, so that as many households may have access to these products for their personal use," he added.
At the FairPrice branch in Toa Payoh yesterday, most insecticides and mosquito repellents were available, though the Baygon Anti-Dengue Mosquito Killer insecticide was sold out. Staff did not know when it would be restocked.
A check with online retailer RedMart yesterday also showed certain anti-mosquito products, including patches and sprays, were sold out.
A spokesman for Dairy Farm, which operates the Cold Storage and Giant supermarkets, said several of its stores may not have stock of mosquito repellents owing to the surge in demand, but it was working closely with multiple suppliers to restock the items as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, some people are trying to make a quick buck from the demand for mosquito repellents and related products.
On online marketplace Carousell, several sellers were selling a box of 10 Baygon mosquito coils - which normally costs 75 cents - for as much as $10. A pack of Tiger Balm mosquito repellent patches - priced at $8.50 on the FairPrice website - was going for $15.
Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we attributed a quote to a Sheng Shiong spokesman. It should have been a Dairy Farm spokesman. We are sorry for the error.
