Low availability concerns
25 June 2024See our latest consumer research results, which highlights continued lower reported availability issues for some food and drink.
Our latest consumer research reveals that just 47% of adults aged 18+ reported poorer availability of some food and groceries in-store or online recently. This has changed little over the last two months and remains one of the lowest levels recorded since first measured in 2021.
This compares with a high of 77% reporting poorer availability a year ago. This was linked to extreme weather conditions in Spain and North Africa affecting harvests and resulting in some supermarkets introducing limits on certain fruits and vegetables.
Availability concerns remain relatively low across a range of categories. Although slightly more consumers are concerned about fresh produce compared to last month (21% vs 19%). However, this is half the level reported in April 2023 (40%).
10% complain about the availability of dairy compared to 40% in 2023.
Availability concerns by region
Consumers in Northern Ireland (59%) continue to report the poorest availability overall, followed by the West Midlands (57%). This compares with 43% in Scotland and 39% in Eastern England.