(ETH) – Supermarket bosses have warned that shortages could hit Christmas food supplies. Richard Walker, Iceland’s chief executive, has said that a lack of lorry drivers is threatening deliveries.
According to TheSun, Gaps on supermarket shelves have been spotted across the country due to a combination of factors, including lorry driver shortages and Covid. Supplier issues have also led to shortages at fast-food chains like McDonald’s, Nandos, and KFC, with some items missing from menus and branches closed.
Greggs is the latest to say that it’s short on food faves and Costa Coffee has reduced its menu due to the supply chain chaos. McDonald’s yesterday warned that there was a nationwide shortage of milkshakes at its more than 1,000 restaurants. The Sun first revealed last week that Nandos was forced to close nearly 50 branches after running out of chicken.
The Sun revealed that Nando’s has been forced to close a number of its branches after running out of food due to delivery delays. Nando’s confirmed to The Sun that the closures were due to staffing problems at its suppliers’ factories. Not enough food deliveries have been made to a number of its restaurants as a result, resulting in stock issues.
To tackle the shortages, Nando’s said it will be lending 70 members of staff to suppliers’ factories to “get things moving again”. A spokesperson said: “We expect to see this having a positive impact on the affected restaurants very soon, so please bear with us whilst we do everything we can to get our famous PERi-PERi chicken back where it belongs – on your plates!”
It comes as Britain has a shortage of 100,000 lorry drivers, exacerbated by the test and trace pingdemic which has left companies plagued with staffing issues. The Sun also reported that Gregg’s is one of many restaurants that is reportedly running out of chicken-based products Costa Coffee has axed some products and is offering a reduced menu as food chains have been hit by supply chain chaos.
The companies have joined McDonald’s, Nando’s, and KFC in confirming that they have run out of some menu items. It comes as the boss of the Co-op warned that current food shortages are the worst he has ever seen. Britain has a shortage of 100,000 lorry drivers, exacerbated by Brexit and Covid, which has left companies plagued with staffing issues.
Photos showed empty sandwich shelves at a Gregg’s store in central London. Gregg’s confirmed that supply chain issues had resulted in shortages of some items – reported affecting chicken-based products. Earlier reports suggested that chicken bakes were affected, however, the bakery said there are no current supply issues impacting the popular pasty.
Speaking on the BBC’s Today program Mr. Walker said: “The reason for sounding the alarm now is that we’ve already had one Christmas canceled at the last minute. I’d hate this one to be problematic as well.” “We start to stock-build from September onwards for what is a hugely important time of year. “We’ve got a lot of goods to transport between now and Christmas and a strong supply chain is vital for everyone.”
