THE food industry has hit “crisis point” with “half of deliveries delayed” due to the pingdemic, industry leaders have warned.
Hundreds of thousands of workers are isolating after being pinged by the NHS COVID app, bringing businesses to their knees with staffing crises.
It comes as Environment Secretary George Eustice revealed that the army is on standby to step in and help secure the nation’s food supplies if the Pingdemic worsens.
Ranjit Singh Boparan, of the 2 Sisters Food Group, which is one of the largest food producers in the UK, has warned they are at a “crisis point” as the pingdemic hits supplies of milk and poulty.
Boparan told the Daily Mail that he predicts the “most serious food shortages that this country has seen in over 75 years”.
But he also said the self-isolating crisis was also “masking” other issues hitting supply chains, including Brexit-related problems and COVID-related supply, staffing and delivery woes.
He warned the government needed to act now or face disaster.
Meanwhile, Phil Langslow, trading director at Cheshire-based County Milk Products told the newspaper that about half their deliveries have been delayed.
“We had a long standing lorry driver shortage that’s been exacerbated by covid. Service providers have said they cannot cope,” he said.’
“Roughly half of deliveries expected to be done are not and we’re scrambling to get this done.
“It renders some business unviable. We were already struggling on the back of Brexit. It meant a lot of farmers kept within the confines of the UK.”
Fresh fruit and veg shelves are among those that have been harder hit.
He said: “We’re doing the utmost to serve customers but a lot is out of our control. We simply don’t have staff to deliver the goods that we’re keen to get to customers.
Nigel Jenny, the boss of the Fresh Produce Consortium told Trending In The News fresh produce is more susceptible to disruption.
“Given the nature of fresh produce, it’s highly perishable, so there’s a very short supply chain susceptible to disruption and that can have an impact quickly.”
“There’s a shortfall of staff of between 10% and 25% across the fresh produce industry, ranging from harvesting crops to production lines where goods are packaged.
The Government on Thursday revealed that 10,000 staff in critical sectors could dodge 10 days of quarantine if their bosses get permission from ministers as they scrambled to rectify the crisis.
Those that could be exempt include workers in food and water supply, medicines and public transport.
The chaos has already hit petrol stations and supermarkets with some branches closing as disruption to supply chains causes a shortages to fuel and products.
Supermarkets are working to replenish stock quickly and are urging shoppers not to panic buy after alarming photos showed empty shelves.
Iceland said it is recruiting 2,000 temporary staff to help with the shortages while the Co-op announced it will take on 3,000 extra workers.
Meanwhile, business leaders and trade bodies continue to call on the government to take action and change the sensitivity of the NHS app.
Elsewhere, we take a look at the businesses which have had to close due to the pingdemic.
In just one week, more than 600,000 Brits were told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 App, according to NHS figures.
Millions have been deleting the NHS Test and Trace app to avoid isolation as the Delta variant rips.
