Will shelves be empty at Christmas?

Shoppers are already noticing shortages of some products

FOOD shortages are already biting shoppers - with one in four saying they have been unable to buy some of the products they were looking for. The UK lorry driver shortage has been blamed for causing gaps on the supermarket shelves, with many industry experts believing that shortages will get worse during the run-in to Christmas.

Meanwhile, a shortage of CO2 which is used in the production of many food items, including soft drinks and some beers, as well as in the slaughter of livestock and in packaging - is adding to supply issues.

Now, according to a Government survey, shoppers are already noticing shortages of certain products.

Research conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that 18% of people polled across Britain between September 8 and September 19 had been unable to buy “essential food items” that they need on a regular basis during the previous two weeks.

The shortages were more noticeable in Scotland, where 24% of shoppers had been unable to buy “essential food items”, compared to 18% in England and 21% in Wales.

Across the UK as a whole, a quarter of people (25%) had been unable to find some other food items that were on their shopping list, but that they didn’t class as essential.

Only six out of 10 shoppers (61%) said that everything they needed was available, while four out of 10 (40%) said there was less variety on the shelves than usual.

Of those polled, 13% said they had to visit more shops to get everything they needed than normal, while 4% resorted to online shopping to complete their list.

It comes as the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) warns that while the UK will not run out of food, it might be in for permanent food shortages.

Speaking at an Institute for Government event, FDF chief executive Ian Wright CBE warned that the days when shoppers could expect to find any item they wanted on the shelves are over.

Mr Wright has now warned that shortages could impact on Christmas. He said: “Businesses operating throughout the UK’S farm-to-fork food and drink supply chain are struggling due to a lack of available workers.

“For our members and the availability of manufactured products, in the absence of required short term measures from the Government to boost the supply of labour, much will depend on the resilience of individual company supply chains and on the behaviour of shoppers in stores.

“That means the outcome of what is and isn’t available at Christmas will be highly unpredictable.

“Given the continued problems throughout our industry due to shortages of HGV drivers, it may be that products aren’t in short supply and more that they can’t be effectively distributed to retailers.

“In communities that are located further away from distribution hubs, where a single lorry doesn’t show up at the local supermarket, that could mean hundreds of products aren’t available when people go in to do their Christmas shop.”

Meanwhile, the ONS survey found that only 4% had struggled to buy medication and 4% had difficulty buying fuel - however, the survey was conducted before panic buying started at petrol stations across the UK after some forecourts ran dry.