Shoppers are being reassured that retailers have plenty of stock – after fears that some shelves in Tayside’s stores are lying empty.
Reports have emerged in recent days of some supermarkets running out of items including fruit and vegetables, soft drinks, pet food and cheese.
It has been claimed may of the issues have been caused by workers in the industry having to self-isolate after being a close contact of someone with coronavirus.
That has prompted a change in the rules on self-isolation both north and south of the border.
Two leading retailers have told us they are experiencing some issues, but have reassured customers that they are working to address the problem.
One shopper at the Co-op store in Kirriemuir said: “I couldn’t believe how empty the shelves are.
“It’s like going back to the very start of the pandemic when shelves in supermarkets were at an all-time low.
“I only managed to get a handful of the things I had gone out to buy.”
One worker at a Dundee supermarket, who asked not to be named, said: “There are food shortages, there are shortages of supply drivers and there are shortages of deliveries.
“Deliveries are much smaller than they need be.
“Colleagues are also off sick because of Covid so there are not nearly as many as required to fill shelves across all shifts – we have managers filling up the shelves.”
A spokesman for the Co-op said: “We are sorry that we have run low on some products.
“Like many retailers, we are impacted by some patchy disruption to our deliveries and store operations but we are working closely with our suppliers to get re-stocked quickly.”
A Tesco spokesman said: “We have plenty of food, with deliveries arriving at our stores and distribution centres across the UK every day, and overall availability remains good.
“While there is plenty of food for everyone, we are experiencing sporadic disruption from the industry-wide shortage of HGV drivers and an increase in colleagues self-isolating on a precautionary basis.
Recruiting 3,000 extra workers
“This, on top of increased demand, is leading to pockets of temporary low availability across a small number of products, but we’re actively managing this and our colleagues are working hard to get shelves back to fully stocked.”
The supermarket giant says it is recruiting up to 3,000 temporary workers at depots.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Grocery retailers have done a great job in ensuring customers have access to food and essentials throughout the pandemic.
“They are carefully monitoring the conflux of pressures being seen at the moment – in the supply chain due to the lack of HGV drivers and a rise in self-isolation affecting distribution and logistics, as well as the impact of the incredibly hot weather on demand for a few limited product lines.”
He added: “The availability of products on shop shelves remains good despite these pressures.
“The industry is adept at coping with any disruptions, and most grocery retailers have well developed contingency plans in place to ensure shoppers have good access to the food and other products they need.”
Last year some supermarkets introduced limits on key items to make sure there was enough to go around.
Coronavirus: Tesco follows Morrisons by introducing limits on key items to prevent panic buying