The boss of supermarket chain Co-op has warned how food shortages are at the worst level he’s ever seen.
Steve Murrells, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, also explained how shoppers could face less choice in stores as the grocer is reducing some ranges.
He blamed "Brexit and issues caused by Covid" for the recent disruption but didn't say what ranges could be slimmed down.
All major supermarkets - including Big Four grocers Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Asda - have seen shelves left empty in recent weeks.
Aldi and Lidl also responded to complaints from customers last month.
Are you still noticing empty shelves in your local supermarket? Let us know in the comments.
The problems have been caused by an estimated shortage of 100,000 HGV drivers, an issue that has been made worse due to the pandemic and a backlog of driver tests.
Brexit and post-EU rules have also been linked to the lack of workers.
About 14,000 European lorry drivers left the UK last year and only 600 have returned, statistics suggest.
Speaking to The Times, Mr Murrells said: "The shortages are at a worse level than at any time I have seen.”
Last month, the Co-op announced plans to hire an extra 3,000 workers as it joined other supermarkets in apologising for poor stock levels.
Meanwhile, the boss of Iceland has also today spoken out about supply chain issues and warned how food shortages could “cancel” Christmas.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, managing director of Iceland, Richard Walker, said food such as bread, is being cancelled in about 100 stores a day.
He added: “The reason for sounding the alarm now is that we’ve already had one Christmas cancelled at the last minute and I’d hate this one to be problematic as well.”
Fast food chains including McDonald’s and KFC have also seen supply issues in recent weeks.
McDonald’s says it has run out of milkshakes, while KFC said last week that it had run out of some menu items.
To help fill the vacancies, some retailers are now paying new HGV drivers a sign-up bonus.
Tesco and Amazon are both offering £1,000 for new recruits, while M&S is enticing new workers with a £2,000 incentive.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) had previously acknowledged industry-wide problems.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: "We are calling on the government to rapidly increase the number of HGV driving tests, provide temporary visas for EU drivers and to make changes on how HGV driver training can be funded."
