There is enough food for everyone during the coronavirus pandemic, the CEO of the British Retail Consortium has stressed.
Speaking during a press conference today, Helen Dickinson repeated that there is ‘plenty of food in the supply chain’ for those concerned. She emphasised that growers, packers, producers, distributors, drivers and shop workers are all ‘doing everything they can to make sure we have the food that we all need’.
She continued: ‘We’re seeing a peak in demand that is basically like Christmas, without the four months build-up in planning that you would normally have in advance. And we’ve been able to do that in two weeks.’
Ms Dickinson went on to say that the issues lie with ‘people and lorries’ and ‘getting that food [available] right into the front-line and onto our shelves’. She explained that this has resulted in some shortages across some areas in the country.
Citing how the government was fixing these issues, she noted that a lift on the curfew for deliveries is already allowing more lorries to ‘get through the supply chain’ and into stores.
However, she stated that some shoppers will find they won’t be able to buy the ‘normal things’ that they once would. There could also be ‘less choice than there otherwise would have been’, she added.
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Ms Dickinson said: ‘We really want to underline that message about encouraging everybody to really be considerate in what they buy and make sure they only buy what they need.
‘There is a billion pounds [worth] of more food in people’s houses than there was three weeks ago, so we should make sure we eat some of it.’
She added that customers should also think about other people in their community and how they can help them to get their shopping.
Ms Dickinson’s words come just as NHS England’s national medical director Stephen Powis said panic buyers who deprive health service staff of essential items should be ‘ashamed’ of themselves.
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He referenced a critical care nurse who had filmed herself breaking down in tears after being unable to find food at a supermarket following a 48-hour shift.
Mr Powis said: ‘We should all be ashamed that that has happened, these are the people that we all need to look after us and our loved-ones in the weeks ahead.
‘These are the people we will all be relying on more than we ever have done in the weeks ahead.’
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