by Divided
Some products have been missing from supermarket shelves for some time. The reason is the strikes: before Christmas things could get even worse.
Munich – Many customers may be annoyed: in the coming weeks the assortment of some supermarkets may have gaps. The background is a wage dispute between commercial companies and unions that has been going on for months. Due to strikes in central warehouses, fresh products such as fruit and vegetables, but also meat and cured meats, frozen foods, cosmetics or toilet paper may soon be missing from the shelves. Handelsblatt reported.
Product failures occur at Rewe, Edeka, Kaufland and discount stores
The Edeka and Rewe chains, including their subsidiaries Netto and Penny as well as Kaufland, would be particularly affected by delivery bottlenecks. But other supermarkets also repeatedly lack products from their assortment, throughout Germany. However, the largest strikes by warehouse and logistics employees occur in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, which is why the effects will be strongest, according to the report. Eastern countries are also affected, but not as severely.
Gaps in the assortment can occur especially in small and medium-sized branches, as they have less storage space than large stores and can therefore hardly take preventative measures on site to ensure that bottlenecks do not occur. In larger stores the lack of individual products is also less noticeable, as there are numerous alternative products.
Missing products in Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland: Smaller markets are particularly affected
Dem Handelsblatt The companies therefore also explained that the bottlenecks would only lead to isolated and temporary product failures, if not even only at a regional and temporary level.
Kaufland confirmed at the request of Merkur.de from IPPEN.MEDIA: “There may currently be regional delivery delays for individual items in our range. We work in close coordination with our logistics department to ensure these issues are resolved as quickly as possible. However, thanks to our wide product range, the supply of goods for our customers is basically guaranteed.” There was no information on internal processes.
Upon request, Rewe said it had no further information on which regions, products or product groups may be affected by disruptions due to strikes in the near future. Edeka did not comment.
The company said so Handelsblatt, who want to make every effort to offer customers the shopping experience they are used to. Customers often react to changes in the assortment with little enthusiasm and may therefore shop elsewhere, like a Rewe customer who could no longer find his favorite chocolate on the shelf. This should be avoided if possible. Due to the strike, other sweets such as wine sweets or biscuits from some manufacturers may soon disappear from shops.
Bottlenecks in Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland are expected to worsen towards the Christmas period
According to the report, the situation in supermarkets is expected to worsen further towards the end of the year. In the coming weeks of Advent and during the Christmas shopping period, customers may find themselves faced with incomplete shelves. There could be even more intense strikes to increase the pressure.
Sometimes there are also products left in supermarkets that cannot be sold, such as bread. The transactions then proceed according to a certain pattern.
