Iceland says it’s desperately trying to ‘keep wheels turning’ to fill stores

The country is asking if Christmas can be saved, but the supermarket chain says the issue is not months away and could be hitting shops in just a few week’s time

Food could run low in supermarkets long before Christmas, the Iceland boss has warned.

Brits have been told a frugal Christmas is possible, with turkeys and toys in short supply – along with empty supermarket shelves and rising living costs.

But Iceland managing director Richard Walker has said that food shortages could happen in just weeks.

Walker said: “This is no longer about whether or not Christmas will be OK, it’s about keeping the wheels turning and the lights on so we can actually get to Christmas.

“This could become a problem over the coming days and weeks, so this is not an issue that’s months away.”

Are you already seeing food shortages? Message sam.barker@reachplc.com

Walker said Iceland was stocking up on items such as frozen meat, which is already at risk of running low.

He added: “I think there will be problems before Christmas. No one has a problem just at the moment but it could become a problem over the coming days and weeks. It is not an issue that is months away.”

Last week Walker said Iceland has been forced to cancel 250 store deliveries a week as it is caught up in a national shortage of lorry drivers.

This is a 15% fall in the normal level of deliveries, and is happening because Iceland has vacancies for 100 drivers.

Walker said: “Nationwide, the UK is currently short of at least 100,000 HGV drivers – the truckers we all rely on to keep us supplied with our food and other daily needs.

To help ease the problem, some of Iceland’s six distribution centres have started using ‘class 2’ drivers rather than HGV drivers.

Class 2 licences allow drivers to handle smaller and more rigid lorries, whereas class 1 drivers operate larger HGVs.

A meat shortage is possible due to a national lack of carbon dioxide (CO2), used in soda and carbonated beers, like lagers, and is also used to asphyxiate animals in abattoirs.

The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) says supplies of CO2 could run out in two weeks – and some poultry plants have run out already.

BMPA chief executive Nick Allen told The Mirror that up to 90% of chicken and pig slaughterhouses have to stop work without CO2.

This would mean shortages of meat within days, he added.

The owner of meat giant Bernard Matthews, Ranjit Singh Boparan, said the CO2 crisis was “catastrophic” for the poultry industry.

Boparan said: “The supply of Bernard Matthews turkeys this Christmas was already compromised as I need to find 1,000 extra workers to process supplies. Now with no CO2 supply, Christmas will be cancelled.

“The CO2 issue is a massive body blow and puts us at breaking point, it really does – that’s poultry, beef, pork, as well as the wider food industry.

“Without CO2, the bottom line is there is less throughput and with our sector already compromised with lack of labour, this potentially tips us over the edge.”