Tesco has warned the government that there could be panic buying in the run-up to Christmas if the current lorry driver shortage crisis is not addressed.
The concerns were raised by Andrew Woolfenden, Tesco’s distribution and fulfilment director, during a meeting of the government’s new food and drink taskforce last week. He suggested that the issue of empty shelves could be worse than that caused by the consumer stockpiling which took place during the first Covid-19 lockdown last year.
A lack of lorry drivers and food processing staff in factories and on farms has caused significant disruption to ‘just-in-time’ supply chains in the UK, with empty shelves in supermarkets and convenience stores becoming an increasingly common problem.
Woolfenden revealed that Tesco had a shortfall of around 800 lorry drivers with it only managing to attract as many new staff as it has lost to rival businesses over the summer despite offering £1,000 recruitment bonuses. He said the problem was industry-wide and described attempts by companies to recruit from the same, limited pool of drivers as like “moving deckchairs around”.
Woolfenden added: “Our concern is that the pictures of empty shelves will get ten times worse by Christmas and then we’ll get panic-buying.”
The UK’s largest supermarket joined calls for the government to temporarily make it easier to bring in workers from abroad to ease the crisis.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We have good availability, with deliveries arriving at our stores and distribution centres across the UK every day. While the industry-wide shortage of HGV drivers has led to some distribution challenges, we’re working hard to address these and to plan for the months ahead, so that customers can get everything they need.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Iceland told Sky News today that the “array” of pressures facing the supermarket sector is a worry but there is no need for customers to panic buy in the run-up to Christmas.
Richard Walker, who had warned earlier this month that shoppers faced a significant increase in prices because of the lorry driver shortage, said the fresh food sector was more likely to face disruption and empty shelves.
Supermarkets want HGV drivers to be added to the government’s Shortage Occupation immigration list. Walker spoke of his shock that “ballerinas and orchestra concert musicians” were able to come into the UK at the expense of workers who could keep the wheels of the economy moving.
“Of course, longer-term, we need to recruit UK drivers and I hope that will happen but that will take six-nine months to get them trained up and we have Christmas to worry about before then,” he said.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) also sent a joint letter this week from food industry bodies to the Prime Minister calling for a 12-month “Covid recovery visa”, enabling companies involved in the supply chain to recruit “critical roles” as a short-term response to labour shortages.
The NFU highlighted that there were an estimated 500,000 vacancies across the food and farming industry. Without the visa, “more shelves will go empty and consumers will panic buy to try and get through the winter”, the letter said.
A government spokesperson responded: “We recognise business is facing a range of challenges and we are taking steps to support them, including streamlining the process for new HGV drivers and increasing the number of driving tests.
“Progress has already being made in testing and hiring, with improving pay, working conditions and diversity. We are closely monitoring labour supply and working with sector leaders to understand how we can best ease particular pinch points.”
NAM Implications:
- The government still don’t get it:
- “We are closely monitoring labour supply and working with sector leaders to understand how we can best ease particular pinch points.”
- Industry leaders have been telling the government for weeks that the solution lies in temporarily making it easier to bring in workers from abroad to ease the crisis.
- Watch this space (and minimise breath-holding…)
