Coronavirus panic-buying: As supermarkets ration items, should customers be stockpiling?
The IndependentSign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Ocado warned customers they were facing “exceptionally high demand” for delivery slots, while elsewhere around the world, it has been reported that items like toilet roll are also increasingly scarce as people buy in bulk. But Bruno Monteyne, senior analyst at Bernstein and Tesco Asia supply chain director, said that a major outbreak of the virus could “quickly lead to panic buying, empty shelves and food riots”. “Data shows that there are 51,000 companies worldwide that source directly from the impacted regions in China, with another five million companies indirectly exposed via ‘Tier 2’ supply chain relationships,” Mr Kruger said. “Clearly there will need to be measures in cases of household quarantine for making sure food is in the right place at the right time but we imagine that could be a rolling case of household quarantine if that measure becomes necessary, and clearly things will need to be in place for care homes and so on if that decision is made.” On the UK government’s website, it says that stockpiles are maintained of “the most important medicines and protective equipment for healthcare staff who may come into contact with patients with the virus”.