The UK food and grocery supply chain may be startng to manage the unprecedented pressure it has experienced over recent years. There has been a significant decline in the number of consumers reporting availability concerns.
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Availability concerns decline
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In the latest consumer research conducted for IGD (23-24 October 2023), around half of adults (52%) experienced shortages of some food and groceries in-store or online recently. This has fallen significantly since last month (58%).
Availability concerns are at their lowest level since August 2021.
Availability concerns decline again for fresh produce and dairy
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Availability concerns have fallen for fresh produce (20% compared to 24% last month and a peak of 52% in March). Concerns have also declined for dairy (19% compared to 22% last month).
Availability concerns are highest in Northern Ireland (73%), London (56%), Scotland (56%) and Wales (56%) compared to the East Midlands (36%).
The availability concerns in Northern Ireland follow a warning by the British Retail Consortium that operational issues with the Windsor Framework “will need to be resolved quite quickly otherwise we would see an impact in terms of choice consumers have in Northern Ireland.”
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