Despite recent photos circulating on social media showing empty grocery shelves in several Barrie and area stores, consumers are being urged not to panic.
Michelle Wasylyshen, national spokeswoman for the Retail Council of Canada, said that while there are a wide range of challenges facing the industry - from COVID-19 concerns, labour shortages to weather delays - Canadians should have no concerns about food shortages.
“There are a lot of things going on right now. Most grocery retail products rely on just-in-time delivery, so winter weather such as the major storm we had a week and a half ago can lead to product shortages and delays because trucks can’t always travel during bad weather (and) it can take some time to replenish stores,” she said. “But that’s really it. Canadians should have no concerns about food availability.”
Any shortages seen on the shelf, she said, are hopefully temporary in nature.
“After almost two years of being in the pandemic retailers - and grocers in particular - are experienced at handling these types of constraints. They also know a lot about managing the supply chain system by the very nature of what they do, whether we are in a pandemic or not.”
Wasylyshen urges consumers to be patient and to consider looking for alternatives and substitutions if they can’t immediately find what they are looking for.
“If there’s something particular they need perhaps they can come back the next day when that shelf will have been restocked,” she said, adding they do not want to see a return to panic buying similar to what was experienced at the beginning of the pandemic. “That approach doesn’t help anyone. These are interesting (and) difficult times, but we will get through it.”
That type of panic buying, she explained, is what creates the additional shortages on store shelves.
When contacted by phone, Joe’s NoFrills store owner Joe Corsaro said he was unable to comment on the topic, and directed BarrieToday to Loblaw Companies Ltd public relations department, as did the manager of the Loblaws store on Bayfield Street. Staff at Walmart in Barrie’s north end were unable to comment and also directed BarrieToday to their head office.
However, a Jan. 24 post on Joe’s No Frills Facebook page assured customers there was no need for concern, and that shelves at the store were being regularly restocked.
“I’m sure we have all seen the photos of the bare shelves in our store on Saturday. We want to assure you that we have received and are receiving trucks of product,” stated store officials in the online post.
“We are doing our best to serve our community, as we have for the past 22 months, and as we will do until this is behind us. Like our community, our store family is resilient and hard working. We ask for your understanding during these unprecedented times. And remember, kindness is not a frill.”
Sharon Palmer, the executive director for the Barrie Food Bank, said while she has seen some supply issues first-hand while out doing her own personal shopping, overall, she’s not too worried the organization will see a significant impact.
“There are a few items we are struggling getting … like margarine but for the most part, we are doing OK,” she said.
Palmer noted historically this time of year shelves are pretty full due to the influx of donations over the Christmas holidays.
“We had a huge December. We had about 180,000 pounds of food donated in the month of December, which is similar to what we used to see pre-pandemic. That helps carry us through for a month or two … so we are OK for right now,” she said.
“The meat, dairy, milk stuff - which are the things we purchase .. and right now the only thing we’ve been struggling with is margarine. We work really closely with No Frills and they’re really good with helping us source stuff. If they can get it we can get it.”
Palmer said the organization is, however, trying to be proactive “just in case.”
“We don’t tend to order, especially with the fresh stuff, too far in advance because we have limited space … but we are trying to get ahead of ordering as much as we can so we aren’t stuck with issues,” she said. “It is an issue, but so far we haven’t had any glitches. We are cautiously hopeful.”
With all the factors at play right now, Wasylyshen said she often describes it as “the perfect storm”.
“Within the whole pandemic from a retail perspective, from the supply chain challenges, COVID impacts, labour shortages … labour is huge. That’s a massive factor in this, especially as we are in Omicron,” she said. “Hopefully there’s some relief on the horizon … but everything is really factoring into the challenges that we are seeing.”
At the end of the day, she added, there is lots of food on grocery shelves and there is no threat to the overall robustness of the food supply system.
“People might just have to look for substitutes, alternatives and be patient while we move through these challenges.”
