More supermarkets will be forced to close while shelves remain empty unless the government takes urgent action to address the shortage of truck drivers and shop staff, industry figures have warned.
Supermarkets said on Tuesday they were facing a “perfect storm” of factors that kept food and drinks from entering stores. Transport bosses have warned of worsening problems as Christmas approaches without an emergency visa program for EU drivers and a plan to train more people.
The stern warning came as the government denied reports that up to 2,000 soldiers would be put on hold to deliver food if the crisis worsened.
The industry’s trade body, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), sought to downplay the gravity of the situation and reassure shoppers that the disruption was “minor” and that the shortcomings on the shelves would be temporary.
However, in a private capacity, supermarket chains are expressing deeper concerns.
“It’s a perfect storm. There is a shortage of drivers and the staff have to isolate themselves, ”said a source at a major supermarket chain. “At the same time, with the warm weather, sales of certain items have exploded. We don’t have the stock levels in the system that we need to replenish that.
With millions of people staying in the UK this summer thanks to ongoing travel restrictions, supermarkets are struggling to order the right levels of stock. Products such as sparkling water and dry pasta are among those that are particularly rare.
“Self-isolation at the store level is not such a problem,” the person said. “We have people in the stores putting things on the shelves, but behind the scenes at depots and suppliers we have a problem. They don’t have the people to wrap it up.
However, an insider from another large supermarket said the so-called pingemia was a major problem.
“Stores will close unless the government lets supermarket staff take a test and get back to work if they are negative,” they said.
“The government claims to be listening, but it does not hear what we are saying. It’s called a supply chain for a reason – it’s only as strong as its weakest link.
“The success of keeping the nation nourished last year was that every link in the chain was protected, not just one.”
Last month, the government relaxed self-isolation rules to allow some food production workers to continue working if they have been in close contact with someone with Covid, as long as they pass tests and are negative. However, workshop workers are not covered and must stay home if they have been pinged by the NHS Covid app.
The government said that from August 16 it plans to change the rules so that people who have received two vaccines do not have to self-isolate. About three-quarters of people have now been double stung.
Many supermarket workers are young and are disproportionately likely to have yet to receive both doses.
Agency staff are being recruited while some retailers, including Tesco and John Lewis, have raised salaries for drivers in an attempt to attract enough workers. But transport bosses said it would take 18 months to train the additional 100,000 drivers needed to fully meet the needs of the economy.
The shortage has been worsening for years but has been exacerbated by an exodus of European drivers during the pandemic and after Brexit.
Further down the supply chain, producers said the situation was not improving.
“It’s pretty serious in our industry,” said a spokesperson for the British Meat Processors Association. “It’s not just the pingemia, it’s another level of pain. It’s an ongoing labor shortage.
Mark Harrison, policy officer at the Food & Drink Federation, said the industry is working hard to alleviate short-term labor shortages. The FDF and other trade bodies have applied for a short-term visa for heavy truck drivers, many of whom have left the UK. The industry is also looking for a long-term increase in training.
“Given that the solutions proposed by the industry are likely to have long lead times for implementation, we urge the government to start implementing them as soon as possible to ensure the availability of capacity before the increase in demand for Christmas starting in the fall, ”Mr. Harrison said.
A government spokesperson said: “The recent pandemic has proven that the UK has a large, diverse and very resilient food supply chain that has coped well with unprecedented challenges.
“We are working closely with the trucking industry to understand and respond to recent pressures. “
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Source: www.independent.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-08-10 18:02:29
