LONDON: British shoppers have entered into panic buying frenzy this week prompting supermarket authorities to restrict their purchasing.
After witnessing customers strip the shelves bare of hand sanitisers and toilet rolls, Tesco and Sainsbury have restricted per customer purchasing of food supplies and consumables.
The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said on Tuesday that there is no need to stockpile as food supplies will be available. Johnson has been criticized for acting slow on taking caution amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.
British supermarkets were swarmed by panicked shoppers on Wednesday purchasing any and everything they could lay their hands on except for ice cream and Easter eggs.
Tesco and Sainsbury have restricted per customer purchasing of certain items like dry pasta, toilet roll and long life milk. Large retail chain grocery stores in Britain have struggled hard to keep their stocks replenished.
Sainsbury’s chief executive has assured and requested the retail chain’s customers in a letter saying they have enough food and but they are limiting sales so it stays longer on the shelves and is available to larger number of customers.
Aldi has limited its customers to buy only four units of any product per visit.
The British grocery stores say they are working closely with suppliers to keep their stock replenished, faster distribution and increased deliveries to all retail outlets. The stores have confirmed that supplies are still coming from Europe despite lock-down in Italy, France and Spain.
The Johnson administration is being blamed for not understanding the seriousness of this crisis for industries. Retail industry sources believe that the government can soften the restrictions on the Grocery Supply Code of Practiced regulations to ease the industry of this supply and demand crisis.
