A warning put out by a trade association chief points out that the days of being able to obtain practically any item from the supermarket shelf are over and that shoppers will confront persistent food shortages.
While this does not mean that people would go hungry, Ian Wright, the chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, believes that the days of practically all items being readily available have passed.
However, Downing Street does not agree to the idea that shortages will be “permanent” and insisted that the UK food supply chain is “highly resilient”.
According to Wright, around half a million of the four million people that usually worked in the farm to fork supply chain – which transports local, high quality, organic and seasonal produce – was missing.
He said part of this was due to EU nationals leaving the UK as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit.
Many businesses have reported major problems in their supply chains in recent months, leaving some shop shelves empty, or forcing restaurants to remove items from their menus.
