by To divide
Certain products have been missing from supermarket shelves for some time. The reason for this is the strikes – things could get even worse before Christmas.
Munich – Many customers may be upset: the offer in some supermarkets is likely to have gaps in the coming weeks. The backdrop is a months-long pay dispute between commercial companies and unions. Fresh products such as fruit and vegetables, but also meat products and sausages, frozen foods, cosmetics or toilet paper could soon disappear from the shelves due to strikes in central warehouses Handelsblatt reported.
There are product failures at Rewe, Edeka, Kaufland and discount subsidiaries
The Edeka and Rewe chains, including their subsidiaries Netto and Penny, as well as Kaufland, will be particularly affected by delivery bottlenecks. But other supermarkets also repeatedly lose products from their range – all over Germany. However, the biggest strikes by warehouse and logistics workers are taking place in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, which is why, according to the report, the effects will be felt most strongly in those countries. Eastern countries are also affected, but not as seriously.
There may be gaps in the product range, particularly in small and medium-sized branches, as they have less storage space than large stores and therefore can hardly take precautions in place to ensure bottlenecks do not occur. In larger stores, the lack of individual products is also less noticeable, as there are a large number of alternative products.
Out of stock in Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland – smaller markets are particularly affected
Dem Handelsblatt Therefore, companies also explained that bottlenecks would only lead to isolated and temporary product failures, or even only regional and temporary failures.
Kaufland confirmed at the request of Merkur.de in IPPEN.MEDIA: “There may currently be regional delays in the delivery of individual items in our range. We are coordinating closely with our logistics department to ensure these are resolved as quickly as possible. However, due to our wide range of products, the supply of goods to our customers is fundamentally guaranteed.” There was no information about internal processes.
Upon request, Rewe stated that it had no further information regarding which regions and products or product groups could be affected by failures due to strikes in the near future. Edeka did not comment.
The company told the Handelsblatt, who want to make every effort to provide customers with the shopping experience they are accustomed to. Customers often react to changes in the product range with little enthusiasm and may then shop elsewhere, like a Rewe customer who can no longer find their favorite chocolate on the shelf. This should be avoided if possible. Other sweets, such as wine gum or biscuits from certain manufacturers, may soon disappear from stores due to the strike.
Bottlenecks in Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland are expected to worsen around Christmas time
According to the report, the situation in supermarkets is expected to worsen even further at the end of the year. In the coming weeks of Advent and during the Christmas shopping season, customers may find themselves facing incomplete shelves. There could be even more intense attacks to increase the pressure.
Sometimes supermarkets also have leftover products that cannot be sold, such as bread. Transactions then proceed according to a certain pattern.
