Cost of living: Tesco boss warns of spike in food bank use

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The cost of living crisis has already made supermarket shopping more difficult for Britons. Now, some shoppers have claimed that in addition to prices going up, there is less to choose from on the shelves.

A shortage in goods will be down to a variety of factors, including post-pandemic supply chain issues, the current conflict in Ukraine, and an increase in feed and fuel prices.

And while we are no longer in crisis regarding HGV drivers, there is still a great need for more.

UK shoppers have expressed their anxiety regarding a shortage of staple ingredients in their favourite supermarkets.

One Aldi shopper took to Facebook, stating: “I’ve just come back from Aldi. The shelves are looking emptier by the week.

“No soya milk sweetened version for weeks. No sweetened almond milk for two weeks.

“Cranberry juice is very hit and miss and has been for weeks. I love Aldi but whatever is happening?”, as reported by MEN.

But the issue appears to be more widespread than just Aldi, with one Asda shopper revealing the same worries about her own food shop.

Jen Runnalls responded that “Asda was the same yesterday” and shelves were “empty”.

Calling the biscuit aisle “dire”, she also couldn’t get any dried herbs and said the freezers were “empty”.

She explained that she was doing a food shop for her parents and had to leave a few things off of their list.

A consumer who claimed to have some inside scoop added that her husband works for Aldi and they have “struggled to get certain items for weeks now”.

She suggested that due to the cost of living crisis, Aldi is seeing a “record number of new people through the doors switching to cheaper supermarkets”.

This means there are more people vying for the same amount of products, leading people to worry that there isn’t enough to go around.

Huw Merriman, who has chaired the Transport Select Committee since 2020, suggested that a lack of lorry drivers was a big issue.

He stated: “Without a new approach, the Government risks sleepwalking into another supply chain crisis.”

On Twitter, there were more customers who expressed worry and confusion at the apparent shortages.

One user stated: “Every time I go shopping in either Lidl or Aldi (even, occasionally, Tesco) I’m struck by the greatly reduced range of products currently on offer.

“Whole display units removed at our local Lidl, freezer cabinets often very depleted or empty, very short best by dates on food.”

@KymYSmith added: “There are nearly always random shortages when I go to a supermarket. Last night it was Felix cat food, almost none on the shelves.”

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