14 Thursday November 25 2021 | the times
News
Shoppers will have a reduced choice of
food this Christmas because of supply
problems, MPs have been warned.
Fresh food is taking three days in-
stead of less than 24 hours to reach
shops from ports because of driver
shortages.
Shane Brennan, chief executive of
the Cold Chain Federation, told the
Commons’ transport select committee
that retailers were focusing on what
was “achievable” in terms of deliveries.
“It’s not about shortages, it’s about
simplifying,” he said. “Having less
range obviously is one of the key deci-
sions you can make in trying to make
supply chains more efficient.
“And it’s about reducing the amount
of goods you’re expected to put on the
shelves and then working with the cus-
tomer base to actually make that clear.
“We’re very good at piling high and
selling cheap at Christmas. What we
have to do is strategically scale that
back to meet the promise that there will
be the stuff you expect on the shelves,
but not necessarily all the extras.”
Brennan said global supplies were in
“an unprecedented period of stress”
with a shortage of drivers, border prob-Food imports take three days
to reach shops instead of one
lems and delays in shipping containers.
“It is taking two or three days for food
arriving at UK ports, whereas this
would normally happen on a same-day
or next-day basis,” he said.
For frozen food, the timescale has in-
creased from between one and three
days to up to five and six days.
Supermarkets responded to driver
shortages by raising pay by 20 to 30 per
cent, the committee was told.
Elizabeth de Jong, director of policy
at Logistics UK, said: “As a society, even
though we’ve had panic buying over
petrol, we are getting more used to see-
ing fewer things on shelves and know-
ing it’s coming. Perhaps not getting
something the next day but having to
wait a few days. All things that we know
as a society we need to be moving to-
wards in our decarbonisation, not the
instant gratification and demand.”
Christian Härtnagel, chief executive
of Lidl GB, said there were still isolated
problems with shortages.
“Availability is much better than 10-
12 weeks ago. It’s still not where we
would like but our customers are going
to have a great Christmas,” he told The
Grocer. “But this Christmas will be
much harder work than any Christmas
before.”David BrownChristmas drinks
under threat from
HGV driver crisis
Shoppers may struggle to buy their
favourite wines and spirits this Christ-
mas because of the shortage of lorry
drivers and freight disruption, industry
suppliers have said.
Nearly 50 wine and spirit businesses
have written to the transport secretary
urging him to take “urgent action” to
avoid some drinks “disappearing from
supermarket shelves”.
They said that rising costs and supply
chain chaos had held up wine and spirit
deliveries, with imports taking up to
five times longer than a year ago.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Associa-
tion, which organised the letter to
Grant Shapps, said businesses that had
previously been able to fulfil orders in
two or three days were experiencing
shipments that took 15 days to process.
It added that freight companies had
raised prices by an average of 7 per cent
because they were paying drivers more
to retain them.
It said that drivers and vehicles were
“increasingly unpredictable” in their
arrival times, meaning goods were
either not ready or left waiting for
collection.
Miles Beale, chief executive of the
association, said: “There is mounting
concern amongst our membership that
unless urgent action is taken we will fall
deeper into delivery chaos.
“We are already seeing major delays
on wine and spirit delivery times which
is pushing up costs and limiting the
range of products available to UK
consumers. Government needs to be
doing all it can to ensure British busi-
ness is not operating with one hand tied
behind its back over the festive season
and beyond.”
The haulage industry believes that
Britain is short of about 100,000 driv-ers, with the problem exacerbated by
the pandemic and Brexit.
One HGV driver said: “This problem
is not a direct cause of Brexit, it’s a
problem that’s been made worse by
Brexit. The heart of the problem, which
we’ve been telling employers and the
government for years, is that we are
mistreated, underpaid, undervalued
and overworked.”
The letter to Shapps urged the gov-
ernment to extend the temporary visa
scheme for HGV drivers, which is due
to end on February 28 next year, to a
minimum of a year to ease the burden
on industry and allow for a sufficient
increase in domestic drivers.
It also called on Shapps to invest in
better routing of goods from ports,
using rail, river, and coastal freight as
well as smaller British-based driver net-
works for short-haul journeys. It urged
the government to deliver regular
updates on DVLA processing of HGV
driving tests and licences.
Wine lovers have already been
warned that prices are likely to rise next
year as suppliers struggle to absorb
rising costs. This month an industry
source told The Grocer, the trade maga-
zine, that “from 1 January you’re going
to see big changes”.
The source said: “Glass is going up.
Labels are going up. Even capsules are
going up — the inflation at the moment
is just frightening.”
Nearly every big wine-producing
region has also been facing extreme
weather, which has hit supplies.
In New Zealand this year’s harvest
was nearly a fifth smaller than last
year’s. Philip Gregan, chief executive of
New Zealand Winegrowers, said:
“Wineries are having to make tough de-
cisions over who they can supply in
their key markets.”
Beale added: “I can’t remember a 12-
month period where there were so
many challenges in so many regions.”Andrew Ellson
Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Venetia MenziesHigh point This shot of Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol was a winner in the Historic Photographer of the Year contest
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