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Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Joel Leaver & Rachel Hains

Tesco and Sainsbury's respond to concerns over shortages in stores

Both Tesco and Sainsbury's have responded to concerns over a shortage of drink products in stores.

The shortage - according to both of the supermarket's Twitter pages - comes amid ongoing supply issues.

In her tweet she asked why it was difficult to get some items in stores, posting: "Can any of the supermarkets explain why there is a shortage of sparkling waters, flavoured sparkling water, tonic water etc?"

The question prompted a response from Tesco, with a spokesperson tweeting that the issue was related to an ongoing shortage of lorry drivers.

"We have deliveries arriving at our stores every day, and while there's plenty to go around, we are experiencing some disruption due to an industry-wide shortage of HGV drivers.

"This has led to temporary low availability on some products but we're working hard to get shelves fully stocked," the tweet read.

Sainsbury's later issued its own reply, with a spokesperson acknowledging some issues with product availability.

They said in a tweet: "We know there are some challenges with availability in some of our stores due to demand. We're working to replenish stock as quickly as we can to ensure our customers can get what they need."

The shortage of HGV drivers has affected supermarket customers for weeks and appears to be ongoing based on the recent comments by the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Similarly, Asda acknowledged availability issues this week, after a customer asked on social media whether there was a shortage of certain fruit juice products in its stores.

The retailer said in a tweet on Monday that it's "currently experiencing availability issues" as a result of the UK-wide driver shortages but it's "working to manage the situation" and hopes to see improvements as soon as possible.

In light of the widespread shortage of lorry drivers, the Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimated earlier this month that the UK is short of around 100,000 HGV drivers.

RHA chief executive Richard Burnett told Sky News: "This is a significant issue and that's why we're beginning to see gaps on supermarket shelves, where we can't get products into [their] distribution centres and onto the shelves."

And it's not just supermarkets that are affected by product shortages lately, with other businesses experiencing supply issues in recent weeks, including McDonald's.

The fast food chain announced this week that it is unable to stock milkshakes and bottled drinks in any stores within England, Wales or Scotland - due to supply chain issues.

In a statement to the Independent, McDonald's said it's "currently experiencing some supply chain issues, impacting the availability of a small number of products."

The UK Government announced last week that it had launched a campaign to recruit additional driving examiners "to help reduce the lorry driver shortage."

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