Supermarkets are being mocked for filling aisles with the same product in a bizarre attempt to disguise empty shelves amid the ongoing supply chain crisis.
Asda in Gloucestershire filled an entire aisle with Lynx Africa deodorant while a Co-op in Hertfordshire stocked fridges with nothing but HP Sauce and Salad Cream.
The supermarket chain also swapped vegetables for chocolate multipacks in one of its stores where shoppers were expecting to find fresh legumes.
Tesco was also caught turning to brown sauce to avoid bare shelves as fears grow over the lack of goods coming into the UK.
The UK has been hard hit by fears of supply shortages, partly due to a lack of HGV drivers, while pandemic restrictions and poor weather conditions have affected shipping in China and east Asia and had knock-on impacts worldwide.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has called on the world to work together to tackle the issues, as pandemic restrictions and poor weather conditions has hit shipping worldwide.
Photos shared on social media of the latest supermarket fiasco had people questioning whether what they were seeing was real.
Yep....that's our local Co-op....Chocolates in the vegetable section too 🙄🙄 pic.twitter.com/FUMZbVOfih
— Heather Penny 💙🇪🇺 (@reelofthe51st) October 12, 2021
One person said: “This can’t be genuine, what store?”
Another said: “Yep that’s our local Co-op. Chocolates in the vegetable section too.
Posting a picture of empty shelves, she added: “Actually I think it’s probably time for Sainsbury’s in Harpenden to go down the chocolate route too.”
Others seemingly saw the funny side of the situation.
Local coop supermarket is so short of stock through supply chain issues caused by brexit and COVID they’ve taken to filling the empty refrigerated section with what ever they do have… pic.twitter.com/7Y2IZ7brPs
— Stuart Turner (@OnlyOneT) September 17, 2021
One person joked on Twitter: “When they said Brexit would lead to less choice. I didn’t expect it to mean that Gloucester would smell exclusively of Lynx Africa.”
Another replied: “Swap it for some salad cream and, or HP sauce from the fridge section.”
“Jee-sus. At least you have plenty of HP to put on your chocolate,” another mocked.
One in ten have already done so as shopping costs soar, warned British Retail Consortium boss Helen Dickinson.
Meanwhile Britain's biggest chicken producer warned that the country’s 20-year cheap food binge is coming to an end and said food price inflation could hit double digits.
“The days when you could feed a family of four with £3 chicken are coming to an end,” Ranjit Singh Boparan, owner of the 2 Sisters Group, said.
It comes despite Mr Sunak playing down concerns, saying there will still be a “good amount of Christmas presents available” this year.
