British shoppers urged to behave more responsibly

George Eustice, environment secretary, has claimed that British shoppers have bought an estimated £1bn of food that they have not yet eaten in a spate of panic-buying because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street on Saturday, Mr Eustice urged people to behave more responsibly at a time of national crisis.

He insisted there was plenty of food for the general public, but said that the problem was the speed with which it was being removed from supermarket shelves. That had led to the food industry stepping up production by 50 per cent in recent days, he said.

“As you shop, think of those who are finishing their late shifts and need to pop to the shop at the end of a long day,” he said after attending a meeting between the supermarket sector and prime minister Boris Johnson.

The government has relaxed restrictions on driver hours to allow more food to be delivered more quickly to shops. Supermarkets have been recruiting more staff and limiting shopping hours so they have more time to restock.

Factories have been moving to longer operating times while food producers have started to cut ranges to focus on volume. In the first week of March, sales of pasta, canned meat and tinned soups rose by more than 60 per cent compared to the same week a year earlier.

There are also concerns about imports, which make up about 40 per cent of the food eaten in the UK, as European countries limit border crossings.

Helen Dickinson, head of the British Retail Consortium — speaking alongside Mr Eustice — said retailers had seen levels of unprecedented demand in recent weeks.

“It’s almost like we’re seeing basically a peak in demand like Christmas without the four-month build-up in planning that you have in advance, and we’ve been able to do that in two weeks,” she said.

“There is plenty of food in the supply chain, the issue is people and lorries, getting the food on to shelves.”

Ms Dickinson admitted that consumers could see less choice in the coming months than they have been accustomed to, but that there would be plenty of food.

Mr Eustice said the fact that there was an estimated £1bn of uneaten recently-bought food in people’s homes pointed to a slowdown in demand in the medium term.

Meanwhile Sky News reported that Defra, the environment ministry, had hired a former Nestlé executive, Chris Tyas, to oversee a “war room” to ensure Britain’s food security during the pandemic. He has been given the job of director of food supply at the department.

Asked if the UK could see rationing, Mr Eustice said it would be best for the retailers to come together and decide the “appropriate level” for any given item.

Supermarkets are already limiting the number of certain products that anyone can buy — such as toilet rolls. “We think it’s better for individual supermarkets to make individual decisions,” Mr Eustice said.

He said the precedent from European countries was that initial hoarding had slowed down: “Once people have stocked up with food, this surge will taper off,” he said.

The minister also insisted that the government was not overly concerned about a potential skills shortage in the food industry.