In the 43 years that Terry Robbins' family company has been making coffins, the size of the average person and the number of obese Australians has increased so much that the company keeps an "emergency supply" of extra large coffins.

From the moment the undertaker is called, the handling of overweight and obese dead is causing heartbreak, embarrassment and anxiety to families and logistical nightmares to an industry that prides itself on treating grieving families with tact and respect.

The old cremators at Woronora cemetery will be decommissioned in August, when new and wider cremators will be installed that can cater to bigger coffins and more obese deceased. Credit:Nick Moir

"A family will have a funeral planned, and at the last minute the body won't fit the coffin," said Mr Robbins, the chief executive of Key Industries in Wetherill Park.

Not only is the death rate in greater Sydney forecast to more than double to more than 50,000 a year by 2050, the dead and their coffins are getting larger, too, says Graham Boyd, the chief executive of Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust.