A range of major UK supermarkets, restaurants and pubs are warning customers of food shortages amid a delivery crisis.
McDonald’s, Nando’s, Costa Coffee and KFC have all warned customers of certain products being out of stock.
Meanwhile, Tesco Asda and other major supermarkets have been left with empty shelves as food shortages hit Britain.
Co-Op’s chief executive, Steve Murrells, described the current food shortage crisis as being at the “worst level he has ever seen.
Here is a list of UK companies struggling to keep up with demand with messages to customers.
Wetherspoons
Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin has played down the role of Brexit-related driver shortages after the pub chain was hit by beer supply issues.
The group apologised to customers on Wednesday after it said supplies of Heineken, Carling and Coors beers ran dry in some pubs.
Mr Martin, an ardent supporter of Brexit, said the shortages were mainly driven by industrial action in recent weeks by drivers and warehouse staff acting on behalf of Heineken.
“Strenuous efforts are being made to link supply issues to Brexit,” the executive chairman said.
“In this case the main link relates to industrial action, Brexit gave the power to the UK Government to allow more HGV drivers in, should it choose to do so.
“There are supply chain issues in many EU countries following the pandemic.
“It has been widely reported that there are shortages of 400,000 HGV drivers in Germany, France and Spain, for example, and Germany, in particular, is struggling with major worldwide supply chain issues.”
Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola bottling business for the UK and Europe has said its supply chain has come under pressure from a “shortage of aluminium cans”.
It comes as social media users have highlighted a scarcity of Diet Coke and Coke Zero products in recent weeks.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) told the PA news agency that it has faced “a number of logistics challenges” recently, including pressure on HGV driver numbers, but said it has continued to deliver “extremely high service levels”.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s warned customers that they may not be able to order milkshakes or bottled drinks at their local branch amid supply chain problems.
The shortage is affecting all 1,250 of McDonald’s stores across Scotland, England and Wales.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Like most retailers, we are currently experiencing some supply chain issues, impacting the availability of a small number of products. Bottled drinks and milkshakes are temporarily unavailable in restaurants across England, Scotland and Wales.
“We apologise for any inconvenience and thank our customers for their continued patience. We are working hard to return these items to the menu as soon as possible.”
Nando’s
Nando’s was forced to close certain stores after running out of food due to delivery delays.
The Peri-Peri chicken chain is a favourite among Brits with its range of spicy chicken offerings and tasty sides.
But the restaurant chain has said a number of locations have had to close due to a shortage of supplies.
Weeks of disruption to distribution across the UK has led to shortages on supermarket shelves, and not it seems Nando’s is the latest to be affected.
A spokesperson said: "We expect to see this having a positive impact on the affected restaurants very soon, so please bear with us whilst we do everything we can to get our famous PERi-PERi chicken back where it belongs – on your plates!"
KFC
KFC were forced to send out a similar warning to customers.
The fried chicken chain, famous for its secret blend of 11 herbs and spices, warned customers it was running out of food.
The chicken connoisseurs provided an update on social media.
Posting on Twitter, KFC said: "Just a heads up that across our country, there's been some disruption over the last few weeks - so things may be a little different when you next visit us.
"You might find some items aren't available or our packaging might look a little different to normal.
"We know it's not ideal, but we're working hard to keep things running smoothly."
Greggs
Greggs has also fallen victim to a series of supply chain problems that is affecting businesses up and down the UK
The same poultry supplies issues affecting Nando’s and KFC are also affecting Greggs according to reports.
Due to its menu variation, the popular sausage roll shop has been able to limit the damage done, however many of their items include chicken including popular sandwiches and baguettes.
British Poultry Council Chief Executive, Richard Griffiths told PoliticsHome that members are currently seeing a 5-10% drop in weekly chicken production.
He said: "They are currently producing a reduced range of products for UK customers and are seriously concerned that the supply of staple chicken products will be impacted," Griffiths said.
"When you don’t have people, you have a problem – and this is something we are seeing across the whole supply chain."
Costa Coffee
Costa Coffee is another big name to be suffering from distribution issues.
In reply to a customers Tweet querying the lack of decaffeinated coffee beans in various stores, Costa replied: “We are facing some supply chain issues just now. We're working hard to resolve this ASAP”.
Co-Op
The boss of one of the UK’s biggest retailers has warned that current food shortages are at a “worse level” than he has ever seen.
Steve Murrells, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said the retailer has significantly reduced its range of some products to help serve customers.
He told the Times newspaper: “The shortages are at a worse level than at any time I have seen.”
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