Durban port congestion is starting to impact WCafé customers. (News24/Na’ilah Ebrahim)
Woolworths South Africa has said congestion at the Durban Port has led to a nationwide shortage of ingredients, which is impacting its WCafé’s hot beverages.
While the retailer refused to specify which beverages were affected by the shortage so as not to cause panic, it said that customers would not be able to buy drinks such as a white mocha. The ingredients for the beverage include white hot chocolate powder, espresso, and milk as its ingredients.
“We can confirm that our WCafés are facing minor supply issues for ingredients used to make certain flavoured hot drinks, including the white mocha. The delays have affected stores across the country, but we are excited to be pouring our much-loved flavoured drinks very soon,” a spokesperson told News24.
The shortage is expected to be resolved in one to two weeks, Woolworths said.
The latest figures from Transnet Port Terminals indicate that the port’s average vessel turnaround time or time taken to load and offload cargo on vessels has reached 113 hours (more than four days) at its Pier 2 Container Terminal, while truck turnaround time has averaged 101 minutes against a target of 65 minutes.
READ | Only the big or lucky survive in SA port chaos, say Durban transporters
In addition, despite recovery plans, only its Pier 1 Terminal at the port had been able to reach its recovery target volume by June this year, while Pier 2 volumes were 19% below the target. Major shipping liner Hapag-Lloyd has said congestion at the South African port could cause a 15-day delay for cargo.
