Greggs hit with food shortages as supply issues affect pasties and sandwiches

Bakery chain Greggs has become the latest company to face food shortages amid supply issues.

Outlets across the country are reportedly dealing with shortages of their chicken-based products such as the popular chicken bake. A number of their chicken sandwiches have also been affected.

Greggs has now confirmed to PoliticsHome that a ‘small number of products’ have been affected by the disruption.

@greggs_official / Instagram

A combination of labour shortages in meat processing and packaging combined with a lack of HGV drivers are resulting in massive supply issues for companies like Nando’s, McDonalds and KFC.

According to the British Poultry Council, there has been a significant shortage of workers across farming and processing with many businesses reporting an average vacancy rate of over 16% in their workforce.

British Poultry Council Chief Executive Richard Griffiths said that members had reported a 5-10% drop in weekly chicken production as a result of workforce issues. 

@greggs_official / Instagram

He said: “They are currently producing a reduced range of products for UK customers, and are seriously concerned that the supply of staple chicken products will be impacted. When you don’t have people, you have a problem – and this is something we are seeing across the whole supply chain.”

The government recently announced plans to ‘streamline’ lorry driving tests amid an estimated backlog of around 45,000 tests that were put on hold during the pandemic.

It has also relaxed drivers’ hours rule so HGV drivers can make longer journeys where it is safe to do so.