Crisp shortage eases but still continues in ‘one in four’ shops

Some shops were still running low on crisp supplies, suggests a recent survey gathered by Kantar Public and shared with the Office for National Statistics, which claimed on Thursday (25) that crisps crunch has eased though they remain in short supply in nearly one in four shops.

As per data collected between November 19 and 22, about 24 per cent of stores have fewer or none on offer. The situation seems to have eased somewhat from the previous week when 30 percent of the surveyed shops were facing crisp shortage.

Multipacks of crisps were unavailable in 4 per cent of shops while availability was low in 20 per cent of shops.

The shortage has been linked to an IT glitch earlier this month that disrupted production at Walkers, the UK biggest crisps maker, eventually leading to a sharp fall in production levels. The manufacturer warned at the time that it could take weeks to get back to normal levels of output.

Apart from crisps,  other items still high on the “no” or “low” availability list were paracetamol at 18 per cent (up from 17 per cent) and ibuprofen at 16 per cent (the same as a week earlier).

In March this year, amid soaring levels of coronavirus cases, India, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of generic drugs, placed limits on exports. Many inputs for these drugs, often sourced in China, had also been in short supply for Indian importers, industry experts said.

Frozen turkey is also high on the list for lack of availability, with scarce or no options in 13 per cent of shops visited by the ONS over the period.

The ONS’ figures come after the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) said its members had been reporting serious delays in importing products, of up to five times the normal timescale as the industry continues to struggle against global economic disruption due to the pandemic, and heavy goods driver shortages.