PANIC BUYING PART II
Rush to buy up essential items amid fear of curbs
SHOPPERS queued to bulk buy toilet rolls and other essentials yesterday amid mounting anxiety over the impact of a new ‘lockdown lite’.
With more people working from home, some households are looking to build a stockpile of items also including pasta, rice, flour and tinned and frozen vegetables.
Supermarket bosses insist that there is no need to panic buy and that there will be no shortages.
However, the queues outside Costco warehouses – used by families and corner shops for bulk purchases – around the country suggests many people are not convinced.
A YouGov survey found two in three people are worried about the impact a second wave of Covid-19 will have on UK food supplies.
A majority also expect interruptions when the Brexit transition period ends in January.
The survey was commissioned by the Agricultural Biotechnology Council.
Chairman Mark Buckingham said: ‘UK farmers have helped the country through some of its most challenging times the last few months, keeping us all well fed and maintaining a supply of healthy, good-quality and affordable fresh produce.
‘However, other challenges are on the horizon.
‘These range from a second wave of coronavirus or the UK’s departure from the EU.’
In Glasgow, shoppers leaving a Costco branch in the Springburn area of the city were seen with trolleys loaded with supplies.
Earlier in the morning people had queued outside the store.
There were also long snaking queues outside a Costco branch in Chingford, north London, with barriers set up to contain the crowds and ensure social distancing.
Meanwhile, people posted images on social media of gaps on shelves in mainstream stores, though these appeared to be linked to restocking problems rather than shortages.
South of the Border, supermarket shoppers reported some gaps on shelves of toilet paper and pasta in Tesco and Asda stores in Grimsby and Cleethorpes in Linwon’t colnshire. One said: ‘People have definitely started to panic buy again. It’s ridiculous.
‘The only reason why we had these issues last time is because people were buying too much for themselves and not leaving enough for the rest of us.
‘If we just get our heads together and buy only what we need, we
have to worry about it.’ When asked whether they had plentiful stocks, Tesco and Sainsbury’s bosses insisted that their Scotland stores were well prepared.
A spokesman for Sainsbury’s added: ‘Customers can continue to shop with confidence in our stores, where they will see we have good availability.’
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) insists grocery supply lines are much stronger than at the beginning of first lockdown and it is confident shortages can be avoided.
At the same time, there has been a massive increase in online grocery shopping slots and home deliveries.
The BRC’s director of food and sustainability, Andrew Opie, said it is important that people behave considerately. ‘Supply chains are stronger than ever before and we do not anticipate any issues in the availability of food or other goods under any future lockdown,’ he said.
‘Nonetheless, we urge consumers to be considerate of others and shop as they normally would.’
‘Retailers have done an excellent job in ensuring customers have access to the food and necessities throughout this pandemic.’
Supermarkets introduced rationing of certain products – such as hand sanitiser, toilet rolls, flour and tinned goods – during the first lockdown.
For example, Tesco capped the number of items purchased in a single shop online at 80.
This was subsequently increased to 95 items.
‘Other challenges on the horizon’