To think that people don't seem to have noticed that the shelves are empty. ?

[Finknottlesnewt]

I have just popped into my local co-op (decent sized supermarket not a corner shop) . I wanted a chicken to roast, some Maris piper potatoes and some frozen peas... nothing. In fact no frozen veg. No pork as a chicken substitute. Salad potatoes but nothing I could roast.

I went to Tesco and got the last chicken. Also successful with Potatoes but no frozen peas.

I am not after unicorn tears. I mean it doesn't get much more normal than chicken spuds and peas. ! Tesco had NO fruit and (much to the consternation of many in the queue) only about 4 packets of cigarettes - none of which were the variety people were after.

Am I just living in a very badly affected area (rural southeast) .. or is anyone else starting to find this worrying ?

I am in the North West (about 15 miles from Manchester centre) and can't say I have noticed big issues.

Our village co op seems to be struggling at times, although not always. The larger co op I sometimes use near my work seems fine.

No issues in large Asda/Tesco supermarkets near me.

I’m in the central belt in Scotland and it’s horrific ! No bottled water, no flavoured water, no broccoli I could go on. Our shops are very very bare ! I’m having to go to at least 4/5 shops just to get my shopping done !

@Fox2010

I’m in the central belt in Scotland and it’s horrific ! No bottled water, no flavoured water, no broccoli I could go on. Our shops are very very bare ! I’m having to go to at least 4/5 shops just to get my shopping done !

I'm on the outskirts of central Scotland. I agree with you. Bare shelves are common.

@DeepaBeesKit

I've only noticed shortages in the evenings. Not surprising as often a lot of stock arrives overnight/early morning. Try going earlier in the day if you can.

Yup!

My understanding is that whilst yes Brexit is somewhat to blame for a supply issue, the largest issue is actually a severe lack of lorry drivers and general supply chain staff (no doubt caused by a mixture of Brexit and Covid).

I went to Sainsbury’s on Monday and it was fine, a few gaps here and there, unless you were shopping for ultra specific branded items you’d get everything you needed. Going again tomorrow morning so hoping it’s still the same!

@Youdoyoutoday

SE London here and no, nothing like you describe, the only empty gap in aldi the other day was tinned sweetcorn but meat and fresh fruit and veg was all fully stocked.

And I've been in SE London for a few days, and seen supermarkets close of some aisles, and pull shutters down over empty fridges

I've noticed online for weeks - first there was (and still is really) a complete lack of mince choices, then no frozen fruit (at all), then it seemed impossible to increase numbers of relatively basic things, like chicken pie or bread or orange juice. It is different items at different times (although the mince thing has been going on for ages..) but there is a persistent lack of items that would have been readily available a few months ago.

I'm not panicking - not yet, but I'm stocking up

So you are buying more than you need to? Well that is marvellous and irresponsible of you to say so. It is precisely this that encourages others to do the same and exacerbates the situation.

I've seen issues at Asda, Tesco, waitrose.

I work for a supermarket and we've been getting deliveries as normal, with all the same things, not short on anything. North West.

I'm near Edinburgh. I shopped in both Tesco and Lidl today and haven't noticed any shortages.

I've noticed this in London. You can mostly get what you want, but might get a different version or need to visit a few shops to find something. In the last few weeks I've had difficulty getting the following, which wouldn't have been an issue normally

Sparkling water
Blackberries
Baking powder
Macaroni
Bin bags
Oven pizza
Goats cheese
Lambs lettuce
Apple juice

I haven’t noticed because they’re not empty where I am. Only thing I’ve struggled to get hold of is strawberry flavoured volvic for DD1!

I've noticed lots of gaps and in a local M&S the shelves were fake full, ie they weren't empty but, for example the same item on the shelf and filling up a whole aisle end too, they were spreading out fewer items to fill the shelves.

Interestingly the lorry drivers have also been badly hit by the IR35 tax law changes for the self employed. Yes, also covid/brexit but the IR35 is a biggie, which doesn't seem to be quite as newsworthy...

Nothing missing from the shops, but the canteen in the hospital I work for are struggling to source bottled drinks and some food stuffs. Were had some odd combinations on offer for lunch this week as they just try to keep us fed. Bless em. They've been visibly stressed.

We've been having trouble for a couple of months ( rural NW England) Fresh fruit and veg have been worst but other random things missing on most occasions I've been shopping. My tesco deliveries have had a lot of substitutions or things unavailable too, but no particular pattern to what's missing. I wonder we're worse affected than lots of places as we are a bit off the beaten track so further along the supply chain. Perhaps major cities are doing better as they're closer to distribution centres? My DD lives in the Scottish Highlands and says there's a lot of bare shelves in the shops where she is too.

@Wbeezer

I've noticed lots of gaps and in a local M&S the shelves were fake full, ie they weren't empty but, for example the same item on the shelf and filling up a whole aisle end too, they were spreading out fewer items to fill the shelves.

Exactly! Fake full.

Lots of shelves empty in Ireland too and we didn’t even get a vote 😲.

Got an email from M&S this evening saying they’re not delivering their Christmas menu to Ireland - full stop. So no oven-ready parsnips €20/4 people this year. I am more than amused at the M&S Chairman whinging at EU import rules. Means they can’t sell their goods to the EU. Diddums.

Lidl have a notice on their Irish website that their Aisle of Shite is suspended.

The world is ending….

@hollyhocksarenotmessy

We've noticed. Half empty shelves. Our Coop has had signs up for weeks apologising and saying its due to problems with deliveries.

South East.

Same here at our local Coop. We're in the south west.

Yes, I’ve noticed it more in Sainsbury’s than the other supermarkets. Weirdly can’t get red peppers (only in multi packs).

Im in Bedfordshire. I do the big shop in Sainsbury's, and every week for some time there have been various noticeable gaps but generally where they are change week on week. I have mostly been able to find a suitable substitute of sorts eg fresh pasta instead of dried. The only items I am consistently struggling to get is proper bar soap (ie not the Dove kind) and the only food DCat classes as acceptable for her breakfast (🙄). At one point the world food aisle was largely bare for about 3 weeks.
I do mini shops in Co-op and Lidl either as a top up or to get products specific to those stores. Lidl has generally had good stock whenever I've been in, but no longer has the full range of it's 'flavour of the week'. I popped in today to get some favourites as it's French week. They had a selection of chilled stuff, but none of the frozen or store cupboard. Most disappointingly, there was no cidre de Normandie 😭 Co-op has been OK, but the shelves have been very thin in parts. Particularly fresh meat and fish.

I went shopping to a large Tesco this morning. There were no food shortages here (South Yorkshire)

Must all be here then as I’ve not noticed much missing.

I haven't noticed an issue here: Central belt, Scotland