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AFP
A leading supermarket executive has told the BBC he is baffled by Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s comments the government was working with retailers to ensure uninterrupted food supplies.
His exact words were: “Matt Hancock has totally made up what he said about working with supermarkets.
Mr Hancock told BBC Question Time: “We are working with the supermarkets”.
But the retail executive said: “We haven’t heard anything from government directly.”
He went on to say sales of cupboard basics like pasta and tinned goods have “gone through the roof”.
While the supermarket was largely keeping up with demand, teams are working “round the clock” to keep shelves stocked.
“We are using processes and staffing levels we set up in case of a no-deal Brexit.” The executive added: “While I think people don’t need to panic buy and should just shop normally, I’m not sure the government can guarantee all food supply in all instances.”
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There is no suggestion that there are food shortages, but people bringing forward some purchases was creating logistical challenges, he said.
A source at a rival supermarket said that while it had some overarching discussion with the departments for agriculture and business about overall readiness, it had not a conversation about ensuring uninterrupted food supplies.
When asked specifically about Mr Hancock’s comments, the supermarket said it did not recognise them.
A question that supermarkets are asking themselves internally is whether they could ramp up their online delivery to meet the demands of large numbers of people self- isolating.
The answer to that was no. Online delivery is only 6-7% of the overall market. “We can’t switch a whole load of new vans on overnight.”
While one supermarket said it was working round the clock, another said there was healthy demand but they were operating “very much within tolerable limits”.