Popular products including porridge and pet food have been disappearing from shelves at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets following a price dispute with key suppliers.

The stand-off means hungry cats and dogs have been missing out on their favourite foods, as pet owners find empty shelves where Whiskas, Pedigree, My Dog and Dine would normally be stocked.

It follows pet food manufacturer Mars Petcare’s decision to stop supplying its brands to both Woolworths and Coles after the supermarket chains refused to accept its request to bump up the prices of its products.

At the same time, porridge-lovers have been leaving Woolworths empty-handed after supplies of Nestle’s Uncle Tobys oats products dwindled due to a similar showdown over price rises with the supermarket powerhouse.

Unsurprisingly, hordes of Australian customers have taken to social media to vent their frustration about finding empty shelves during their trip to the shops.

One customer tweeted the supermarket chains were risking animals’ lives by failing to supply enough pet food, while others lamented their inability to feed “hungry kids” their favourite cereal.

https://twitter.com/nxxflickchick/status/1113225226806915073

https://twitter.com/Innocen85794076/status/1111835880841342976

A Coles spokesperson confirmed that an “availability issue” with Mars Petcare had resulted in some pet food products being temporarily out of stock.

“The good news for our four-legged customers is that products are now back on shelves in the vast majority of stores,” the spokesperson said.

A Woolworths spokesperson said the company was also working with suppliers to address “availability issues”.

Australian Food and Grocery Council CEO Tanya Barden said food and grocery manufacturers “had been absorbing rising manufacturing costs for some time … but as costs continue to mount, something will have to give”.

“The high pressure on Australia’s largest manufacturing sector is only expected to intensify with costs on everything from commodities, particularly caused by the drought, to labour to energy continuing to increase,” Ms Barden said.

Grocery industry expert and ChessMate Consulting CEO Jean-Yves Heude said big companies like Nestle were able to wield stronger negotiating power than smaller companies because they know shoppers will complain if supermarkets stop stocking their products.

“It’s not the supplier deciding not to supply, but the consequence of the supermarket refusing to agree on the price the supplier is asking for,” Mr Heude said.

He said the flip side of this power balance was that smaller companies were in a “much weaker position” to ask for price increases.

“The reality is, year after year you’ve got many small companies suffocating because their margins are getting smaller and smaller and they eventually become bankrupt,” Mr Heude said.

“These supermarket chains say they’re trying to protect the Australian consumer against those big suppliers, but they’re not Robin Hood – they just want a competitive edge against each other.”

A Mars Petcare spokesperson confirmed the company was “working through supply issues” and hoped to have its products “back on shelves soon”.

Nestle’s corporate and external relations manager Margaret Stuart said the company’s breakfast cereal products would return to shelves soon too.