Split
Certain products have been missing from supermarket shelves for some time. The reason is the strikes: things could get even worse before Christmas.
Munich – Many customers may be upset: in the coming weeks there will probably be gaps in the assortment in some supermarkets. The background is a salary conflict between commercial companies and unions that has been going on for months. Fresh products such as fruits and vegetables, but also meat and sausage products, frozen foods, cosmetics or toilet paper could soon be missing from the shelves due to strikes in central warehouses. Handelsblatt reported.
Product failures at Rewe, Edeka, Kaufland and discount store subsidiaries
The Edeka and Rewe chains, including their subsidiaries Netto and Penny, as well as Kaufland, will be particularly affected by supply bottlenecks. But other supermarkets are also repeatedly missing products from their assortment throughout Germany. However, the largest strikes by warehouse and logistics employees are taking place in North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, so the report says the effects will be felt most strongly there. Eastern countries are also affected, but not as much.
Especially in small and medium-sized branches there may be gaps in the product offering, since they have less storage space than large stores and can therefore hardly take precautions on site to avoid bottlenecks. In larger stores it is also less noticeable if individual products are missing, as there are a large number of alternative products.
Products are missing in Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland: smaller markets are particularly affected
democrat Handelsblatt Therefore, the companies also explained that bottlenecks would only cause isolated and temporary product failures, in any case only on a regional and temporal level.
Kaufland confirmed at the request of Merkur.de of IPPEN.MEDIA: “There may currently be delays in regional delivery of individual items in our range. We are in close coordination with our logistics department to ensure these are resolved as quickly as possible. However, thanks to our wide range of products, the supply of goods for our customers is basically guaranteed.” There is no information about internal processes.
At Rewe’s request, they stated that they had no further information on which regions and products or product groups could be affected by failures due to strikes in the near future. Edeka had no comment.
The company told Handelsblatt, who want to do everything they can to give customers the shopping experience they are accustomed to. Customers often react to changes in the product range with little enthusiasm and then shop elsewhere, like a Rewe customer who could no longer find his favorite chocolate on the shelf. This should be avoided if possible. Other sweets, such as wine gum or cookies from certain manufacturers, could soon be missing from stores due to the strike.
Bottlenecks in Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland are expected to worsen towards Christmas time
According to the report, the situation in supermarkets is expected to get even worse towards the end of the year. In the coming weeks of Advent and during the Christmas shopping season, customers could find themselves with incomplete shelves. There could be even more intense strikes to increase pressure.
Sometimes there are also leftover products in supermarkets that cannot be sold, such as bread. Transactions then develop according to a certain pattern.