Several thousand pastries and loaves of bread were destined for the bin until Dough Boys Bakery in Auckland put out a call to the community to help.
Goods had been baked and were ready to go to farmers' markets across Auckland starting at 7am this morning, until an announcement by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at 9pm on Saturday night put Auckland into alert level 3 from 6am today.
"It was a nightmare. We couldn't think of anything worse," sales manager George Ring said of the announcement.
"In times gone by we were at least able to not have the product already baked but, because it was so late, there was nothing we could do about it."
The bakery posted a message to social media asking locals to support the business and Ring said he has been "blown away" by the support.
"The community has really rallied behind us to help us clear the product and make sure we don't throw it all out," Ring said.
"I haven't had a chance to comprehend the queue yet," he said.
This is an official government COVID-19 announcement.
From 28 February, the Auckland region moves to Covid-19 Alert Level 3. The rest of New Zealand moves to Alert Level 2. This is for a period of seven days. Further community cases of Covid-19 have been identified in the Auckland Region. If you are in Auckland, stay home where possible, and follow Alert Level 3 guidelines. This will stop the transmission of Covid-19 and save lives. For more information on the alert levels go to covid19.govt.nz.
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Kia Kaha - Stay Strong
