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The boss of a major supermarket warned that the current UK food shortage is at a “worse level” than he has ever seen.
The food supply chain is confused by a shortage of heavy truck drivers and a general labor shortage.
Steve Murrells, CEO of Co-operative Group, told Times that the scope of some products has been significantly reduced. He blamed Brexit and pandemic fallout.
The road transport industry is currently Lack Of about 90,000 drivers.
Meanwhile, Icelandic boss Richard Walker, a frozen food retailer, said BBC Unless the problem is resolved now, it can affect very important Christmas items.
“The shortage of drivers is affecting the food supply chain on a daily basis, leading to a shortage of shelves,” Walker said. “Delivery was canceled for the first time since the pandemic began. About 30-40 deliveries per day.”
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) also said yesterday that its favorite supply of pig-like Christmas in blankets could be affected.
According to industry groups, training new drivers took months and there is a backlog that missed 40,000 HGV tests.
According to Walker, the solution is to add a heavyweight carrier (HGV) driver to the list of skilled workers. This makes it possible to hire from overseas.
Walker said the supply chain problem was “self-harm” with Brexit handling, “because the government was unaware of the importance of HGV drivers and the work they were doing for us. That’s it. “
Retailers are beginning to provide incentives to seduce drivers. Tesco has offered truck drivers a £ 1,000 ($ 1,370) participation bonus.
Both Morrisons and the Co-op have stated that they will retrain their staff to become truck drivers.
Other high street names, including McDonald’s, Nando’s, and Subway, have been hit by supply problems over the past few days caused by labor shortages in various industries.
The UK Retail Consortium, along with Logistics UK, a leading player in the transportation industry, Called To speed up testing by allowing the government to change the status of HGV drivers to allow them to be hired overseas.
The government announced last week that it would streamline the HGV licensing process and introduce plans to increase the number of tests.
Yesterday, McDonald’s ran out of milkshakes at most British restaurants.
There is also a significant labor shortage, such as meat packaging and fruit picking jobs.
Andrew Kike, Executive Director of the Federation of International Trade Associations for the Trade of Dairy and Pork, said: Parents There was no problem in producing agricultural products.
“Food is still produced on farms and factories, but it reaches consumers and proves challenges in many ways,” he said. “Supermarkets lack truck drivers, warehouse staff, and retail distribution center staff and can’t be put on shelves.”
PA contributed to this report
Simon Veazey
Freelance reporter
Simon Veazey is a UK-based journalist who has been reporting on the Epoch Times since 2006 on a variety of beats, from detailed coverage of British and European politics to web-based writing of the latest news.
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