Shoppers experiencing empty shelves caused by supermarket supply chain issues and a huge shortage of HGV drivers in Britain have spotted intriguing ways in which stores have been hiding the empty shelves.
One shopper in Bristol said he was amazed when he saw the shelves which would normally contain jars of coffee were empty - sort of.
Instead of the shelves packed with jars full of coffee, Twitter user Milesenberg saw each spot where the different brands of coffee should normally be had been replaced by empty and used jars of the same brand.
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He was so surprised at the discovery, made in the Co-op store in Two Mile Hill in Bristol on Sunday morning, July 29, that he took photos to prove it.
“It's the first time I've noticed it,” he said.
“I went there looking for a syrup for coffee, which is why I was looking so closely at the coffee shelves. I know the crisp packets were unopened, because I bought some of those,” he added. Another Twitter user, HolyMole, said he went to check it out too. “I saw the location tag and realised this was my local, so I went to see for myself,” he said.
“Yup. Empty jars on shelves and a sign saying to ask if you can’t find the item you want. So has rationing begun?” he added.
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Other shoppers have noticed other ways in which supermarkets are being creative when it comes to the empty shelf situation.
At Sainsbury’s in Ashton, Bristol, earlier this week, there were shortages of some items, but a huge surplus of Thatcher’s cider.
As well as a well-stocked cider aisle at the Winterstoke Road store, cans and packs of Thatcher’s cider were located all around the rest of the store, filling empty wine shelves, and at six other locations where other products would normally be, in biscuits, cereals and toiletries and household goods sections.
The reason behind the shortages have become the subject of fierce debate about the impact of Brexit, but the reality is that there are complex reasons behind the empty shelves in some stores.
Experts say it’s a combination of different reasons, and has been building for a number of weeks.
Last month, Bristol Live reported how lorry drivers were reporting how quiet the regional distribution centres around Bristol were, and one driver said it was a combination of covid making drivers self-isolate, covid creating a shortage of workers in the food production industry, Brexit rules forcing European lorry drivers to leave Britain, and Brexit rules forcing European crop pickers to leave the country or not arrive for the summer.
Late last month, Richard Burnett, the chief executive of the Road Haulage Association said he had warned Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that there was going to be a ‘collapse of the supply chain’ in two to three weeks.
That was a week and a half ago, and Mr Burnett said the existing and long-standing shortage of HGV drivers in Britain had been exacerbated by the pandemic and Brexit.
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He has called for emergency action, because it will take more than a year to train 100,000 HGV drivers needed.
“We’re facing, potentially in the next two to three weeks, a collapse of the supply chain and we will see even bigger gaps on supermarket shelves because we cannot get product into the supply chain fast enough,” he told the BBC on Sunday, July 25.
“We have got hauliers that have literally got vehicles parked up, unable to cover literally hundreds of thousands of loads on a daily basis. And that’s impacting the food supply chain.
“This is a massive crisis - a crisis on a scale of which we have never seen before in this industry and Government is burying its head in the sand - it’s not recognising the seriousness of the situation,” he added.
The Road Haulage Association’s emergency proposal is for the European drivers who had been living and working in Britain, or coming to Britain for short periods, who were told to leave because of Brexit, to be invited back.
There were 60,000 EU nationals working as lorry drivers in Britain last year, but HGV driver is not on the list of approved occupations for a visa.
Last week, Mr Burnett said he was urging the Government to include HGV drivers on the Home Office Shortage Occupation List, in the same way as seasonal crop picking workers have been.
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