Supermarket meltdown: Fridge malfunction threatens Countdown ice-cream stock

A fridge malfunction at Countdown Kelston almost led to a summer tragedy. Photo/Getty Images.

In what has been a particularly muggy summer, a Countdown supermarket came close to a complete meltdown.

A refrigeration malfunction at Countdown's Kelston store overnight on Wednesday meant staff yesterday had to scramble to move ice cream from the store to the backroom fridges.

Customers who visited the store yesterday said they saw staff pulling the ice cream from the shelves in the in-store refrigerators.

At the time, staff told the customers that much of the ice cream would likely have to be discarded.

However, today Kiri Hannifin, Countdown's general manager of corporate affairs and sustainability, said the quick actions of staff in the store meant that most of the stock was saved.

She said the team conducts a routine check every day and immediately noticed that something had gone awry.

In the end, Hannifin said, the store only lost three tubs of ice cream to the malfunction.

Had Countdown been forced to discard all of the product, it could have lost stock worth several thousand dollars.

A technician has since visited the site to repair the problem with the fridge.

"We can assure our customers that all our fridges are back to normal and we have plenty of ice cream, chilled and ready to enjoy," Hannifin said.