Deepwater ships are out for weeks at a time and need to keep medical supplies onboard to meet varying medical situations.
For Talley’s, it’s the Queen Street Pharmacy that is keeping them supplied, even during Covid-19.
“As a food producer, Talley’s was an essential business that continued to work and so still needed us as their medical supplier during the lockdown,” says Queen Street Pharmacy owner, Sue Morris.
Covid-19 disrupted the global medicine supply meaning shortages in New Zealand of several medicines including Paracetamol.
This saw the Government bring in monthly dispensing, and an increase in the dispensary’s workload.
“We have supplied all of Talley’s deepwater fishing vessels for about eight years.
“We supply things like plasters, bandages, seasickness tablets and patches, and even dental fillings in case a temporary filling is needed to be done on board.”
If the boats don’t come into Nelson, Queen Street Pharmacy still provide supplies to Talley’s head office and they transport the supplies to wherever the vessel is docked throughout New Zealand.
Sue says Covid-19 bought new challenges and a lot of uncertainty in retail for many weeks, so they are grateful to clients like Talley’s who were “essential” businesses able to operate during Lockdown.
The pharmacy also had some contracts with rest homes, local schools, sports clubs and forestry companies, which have greatly helped business this year as retail continues to recover after lockdown.
“We were fortunate that we were able to continue trading throughout lockdown. However, while the dispensary was crazy busy, the retail side of the pharmacy took a big hit. We had a huge demand for masks and sanitisers but the drop in the retail business for periods this year has been tough.
Morris says retail is now improving.
“People are gaining more confidence to come out and shop, and we really appreciate the support of the community,” she says.
“We have some big promotional events planned, which we are looking forward to. These include facial events, makeover days and our annual Christmas shopping extravaganza.”