SHOPPERS have spotted shortages in supermarkets including bottled water and fresh fruit and veg.
Supplies to shops have been hit by the “pindemic” forcing workers to self-isolate adding to existing worker shortages and increased demand from the heatwave.
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Ice creams and beer are also among the items running low in some locations, as supermarkets warned customers not to panic buy.
Empty shelves have been spotted in supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Iceland and Lidl.
Food will still be available in stores, but shoppers are likely to see fewer items on shelves and less choice of products.
A number of problems through the food supply chain have combined to create what’s been described as a “perfect storm”.
Fresh fruit and veg shelves are among those that have been harder hit.
Nigel Jenny, the boss of the Fresh Produce Consortium told The Sun fresh produce is more susceptible to disruption.
But shoppers have struggled to get hold of bottled water, especially with the rising temperatures.
Lack of items in stores depends on locations and the items loaded onto lorries for each delivery.
That means that different products will have different availability in depending on the store shoppers go to.
Lidl said that the situation was “becoming increasingly difficult” with more staff being told to self-isolate by the Covid app.
“Whilst this is starting to have an impact on our operations, our teams are working hard to minimise any disruption to customers,” a spokesperson said.
Sainsbury said that it is working hard to ensure customers can find what they need, but may be out of stock of certain items.
A spokesperson said: “While we might not always have the exact product a customer is looking for in every store, large quantities of products are being delivered to stores daily and our colleagues are focused on getting them on to the shelves as quickly as they can.”
Co-op apologised to customers that it is running low on some products.
“Like many retailers, we are impacted by some patchy disruption to our deliveries and store operations but we are working closely with our suppliers to get re-stocked quickly,” a spokesperson for the supermarket said.
Meat supplies have also been hit from staff shortages caused by butchers and meat factory workers getting pinged.
Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium, said: “The ongoing ‘pingdemic’ is putting increasing pressure on retailers’ ability to maintain opening hours and keep shelves stocked. “
The BRC, which represents the retail industry, is calling on the government to act.
A list of key workers who will be exempt from having to self-isolate is expected to be announced by the government today.
Shops will start to run out of food in 48 hours if disastrous pingdemic rules aren’t scrapped
