Panic buying a bitter blow for cake maker

And without them, her income could vanish as fast as coronavirus-panicked shoppers are stripping supermarket shelves.

"Yesterday I could get no flour, no sugar, no eggs and I only got half the chocolate I need," the Cakes and Things sole trader has told AAP.

Things are so difficult she's now got every member of her family on the hunt for the ingredients that will keep her business alive.

"We're not panic buying. If there's enough, they'll pick up some flour for me, or a dozen eggs, or some chocolate," she tells AAP.

"I'll still be able to fill my orders for the next couple of weeks, but if things don't improve I will have issues. And if I don't make cakes, I don't have an income."

The mother-of-four doubts Australians rattled by coronavirus are thinking too hard about the wider consequences of food hoarding, even though the prime minister has begged people to stop.

If consumers don't care about some households going without, why would they have turned their minds to the impacts for small businesses like hers?

"People are only thinking about themselves, they are being really selfish and kind of crazy. It's not like Australia has a shortage of food," Ms Williams says.

Even wholesalers who sell 25kg sacks of flour and 50kg bags of sugar are running low.

"People are even panic buying as business owners."

Ms Williams hopes consumers will calm down in the next few weeks.

But even if they do, her business will still have to contend with the effects of Australia's recent bans on travel and large gatherings, like weddings.

"I"ve had one event downsized from about 80 people to 20, so that order has been severely downsized," she says.

"I've had one wedding cancelled, and one postponed in the space of the last five days. And it's just the beginning."

The cake maker hasn't yet gone to see her accountant, or investigated what government help might be on offer.

But she'll consider seeking assistance to keep herself in a job if it comes to that.

"I just keep hoping people will realise, wake up and think 'I'm being so stupid, let's just calm down'."

Australian Associated Press