The supply crisis is hitting much of the planet. The United Kingdom is one of the countries that is being affected the most by this problem. Product shortage is notable strolling through supermarkets, and uncertainty is plaguing British society.
This has caused that, in an almost attempt to alleviate the impact of this crisis on the brand image of supermarkets, stores have been forced to cover the gaps caused by the shortage with food printed on cardboard cutouts.
UK-based supermarket chain Tesco has started using images of asparagus, carrots, oranges and grapes in its fresh produce aisles, as reported The Guardian.
The problem has spread throughout much of the country
According to the British media, consumers in the neighboring country have seen fake carrots in Fakenham, cardboard asparagus in London, images of oranges and grapes in Milton Keynes, as well as 2D-printed dishwasher bottles in Cambridge.
The crisis worsens even more when it is taken into account that the supply crisis not only responds to the global problems that plague half the world, but also in the United Kingdom a alarming lack of manpower.
The country has neither pickers nor packers, and farms and food processing plants are insufficiently staffed to respond to the growing demand.
Added to this is the transportation crisis that plagues the island. The UK has been forced to let in foreign trucks without limitations to alleviate the supply crisis, in an attempt to save, at least, the Christmas campaign.
Bryan Roberts, a retail analyst at Shopfloor Insights, for his part, put forward an alternative cause to this initiative by supermarkets to put cardboard cutouts: “It has become quite common. It is not just due to shortages, but because many of the biggest stores now they are just too big“, says Roberts to the British means.
Also, this appears to be just one of the tactics retailers use to fix this problem, according to the analyst. Supermarkets like Tesco also carry out other practices such as filling meat coolers with bottles of ketchup or mayonnaise, distributing beer packages across entire aisles, and putting up large posters or other marketing material.
UK forced to let in more foreign trucks to ease supply crisis ahead of Christmas
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