Grieving families are being urged to embrace the ritual power of a funeral after Covid-19 lockdowns denied many people in-person goodbyes.
Funeral Directors Association president Rachel Benns says the pandemic has cemented the importance of ceremonies. Photo: 123rf/ Nelson99
Mourners are increasingly favouring memorial services and direct cremation, at the same time as funeral homes struggle with Covid-19 related staff and supply shortages.
Funeral Directors Association president Rachel Benns said the pandemic had cemented the importance of ceremonies.
"It's really proven for families that they need to say goodbye, they need to have a meaningful farewell, they need to gather together," she said.
"We need to mourn the loss of a loved one, that's just part of who we are as human beings."
Benns, who manages 11 Auckland funeral homes, said she had helped many families who had to plan farewells during both the first and second coronavirus waves.
"Families that were caught up in the first lockdown are now caught up again with a second death, so it's tough," she said.
Funerals and tangihanga are limited to 100 people under the red light setting, or 25 if mourners are unvaccinated.
The business of death is changing in New Zealand, with an estimated 70 percent of people choosing cremation over burial, often because of the cost.
While the cost of a funeral varies widely, estimates suggest an average bill of between $8000 and $10,000.
Funeral celebrant Elizabeth Bennett said the number of direct cremations had risen even higher during the pandemic.
"There's been a huge increase, more than 10 to 15 percent I believe, in the rates of direct cremation - that is when people prefer to have a cremation without a service," she said.
"I think we run the risk of that becoming the norm, as it is in say the United States, and I think that's to our detriment as a culture.
"We don't have that opportunity to gather, to say goodbye. We don't have that way of ritualising pain and grief."
Organising those gatherings as the coronavirus runs rampant has been difficult, with more than a dozen staff off sick at Rachel Benns' funeral homes.
Chapel staff, caterers and florists were also struggling with staff shortages, causing delays, she said.
"We've got funeral staff who are putting on a pinny and pouring the tea.
"I had a funeral the other day and the flowers were late arriving. The florist rang and said look, we booked and paid for them, I'm at the markets - I can see them but I can't get them because there aren't enough staff."
The increase in the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 has led to a shortage of space in mortuaries overseas.
Some district health boards have hired or bought refrigerated containers to store bodies if morgues and funeral homes run out of room.
A number of funeral homes had installed three-phase power to run container storage, Benns said.
"Quite a few funeral homes have rather large refrigeration storage facilities already, but they would just be used more long term. A lot of deceased people are prepared, so they don't actually need refrigeration once we've looked after them," she said.
Auckland company Lucentt supplies funeral homes with coffins, caskets, nameplates, crosses, mortuary equipment and embalming chemicals.
General manager Mark Chaafe said while most products were New Zealand-made the company was waiting months for imports stuck at congested American ports.
"We've had a shipment there for five months, sitting on the wharf, we just managed to get it moved - that was embalming fluid. We've pretty much run out, so we'll be pleased to see that arriving," he said.
Freight costs had soared by at least 300 percent, Chaafe said.
Masterton craftsman Dean Taylor and his eight staff made about 70 solid pine coffins and caskets a week in a variety of finishes at Taylormade Furniture.
"They range from a raw pine, sanded finish to an oil, some of them just get a stain on them, right up to a piano gloss finish that you buff up like you'd buff up a car," he said.
While demand remained steady, Taylor said supply and freight costs had spiked.
"One example of that is our paint or lacquer supplier. We're on our third price increase from them in about 10 months. The cost of that material is about 22 percent up," he said.
Despite the expense, Taylor hoped people found solace in a send-off.
"There was some talk about whether you really needed one, but I think over those lockdown periods, not being able to have one has really driven home the value of a funeral, so that's been quite heartening," he said.