Brexit architect Nigel Farage might be sighing with relief after his political hobby horse briefly stopped McDonald’s’s milkshake supply, but its impact on U.K. supermarket food shortages is likely to go well beyond the temporary. Numerous supermarkets, including Co-Op, Iceland, and Marks and Spencer, are presenting grave projections of supply problems well into 2022, leading to some predictable headlines about “cancelling Christmas.”
As in the restaurant world, the COVID-19 pandemic has both masked and deferred the arrival of labour shortages and transit problems. The sudden disruption that was expected come January 2021 didn’t really arrive — except, most notably in the case of shellfish producers left with rotting product at the border — but now, with online delivery receding and “traditional” supermarket visits returning, empty shelves and limited choice are becoming more and more familiar.--
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