Oysters popular among supermarket thieves

A freshly-opened Bluff oyster. Photo / Eveline Jenkin

Cheapskate backpackers have forced a Queenstown supermarket to introduce a ticketing system for buying Bluff oysters.

Too many visitors have been eating pottles of the $23.99-a-dozen delicacy before getting to the checkout at Fresh Choice supermarket, said co-owner Tony Wild.

It has also had to step up security measures across the store in the face of annual shoplifting losses of up to $250,000.

Backpackers had become increasingly aware of anti-theft measures such as electronic tagging used in product packaging, and were adapting their methods to beat increased store security, Mr Wild told the Southland Times.

"We've got 36 cameras, use floor walkers and have an EAS system which beeps at the entrance if it detects items that haven't been paid for. But backpackers in particular are eating a lot of food while they're here, then just ditching the packaging."

But Mr Wild said the loss of consumables eaten in store was minor compared with thefts of high-cost items such as women's beauty products and luxury food items that were targeted by backpackers.

Queenstown police Constable Sean Drader said shoplifters arrested at Fresh Choice were more from overseas than from Queenstown or other New Zealand locations.

- NZPA