Grocery supply chains around the globe have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. This pandemic has hit the supply chains hard here in the UK with people panic buying. Stores have exclaimed demand has been “like Christmas, except without 9 months of planning and across a seemingly unpredictable range of products”.

It is not that grocery supply chains couldn’t theoretically cope with the increased demand, it is simply that there was no time to plan for this demand. Christmas is a planned event in the supply chain calendar with increased production and deliveries through the period.

It has taken time to mobilise extra resource throughout the supply chain from production through to delivery to store.

Who could have predicted the unimaginable demand for toilet roll just before this lockdown started?

This shift in panic buying then affected a different area as consumers moved to online shopping booking all online slots. This has left the supply chain needing to supply an increase to those warehouses that satisfy online shoppers as well as the stores.

The only way stores could cope with irrational panic buying during this time was to ration items for shoppers. Most of us have never experienced anything like this in our lifetimes and hopefully, it may change the way consumers shop — encouraging less waste.

The grocery supply chains have acted as quickly as they can and now shelves are filling again, but the public does need to understand a little how the supply chain works from the stock count in-store through to demand for delivery and transport and delivery of items.

The coronavirus pandemic has seen retailers working together to share resources. Thousands of new temporary jobs have sprung up in this sector from pickers and packers in warehouses, to extra delivery drivers and store staff.

We at Orderly have teamed up with Morrison’s and created a food box proposition to support their shoppers, the vulnerable and the NHS. This initiative was created within a week to ensure those who are on the frontline helping us were able to get what they needed.

Orderly’s technology provides the backbones for the Morrisons Foodbox Initiative.

We’re proud that the technology and teams here at Orderly played a part in this.

If you would like to find out how our systems can help your business manage its food and beverage stock more effectively, get in touch today.

We are working towards a future where there is less food waste.