Supermarkets are appealing to the Government to limit what people can buy in stores as panic buying rears its ugly head once more.
The current semi-lockdown in Mallorca coupled with a delay in supplies arriving from the Peninsula after Storm ‘Filomena’ has prompted massive queues at supermarkets over the last week and the shelves are emptying fast.
Bartomeu Servera, President of the Association of Food, Beverage & Cleaning Products Distribution Companies in the Balearic Islands says the Government has to do something to stop people hoarding food when there’s no justification for it.
“There should have been a proactive message of reassurance from the very beginning, especially when there was going to be a shortage of products from the Peninsula, but there has been nothing,” says Servera. “For a few days this week the level of hoarding of food and all kinds of other products was higher than it was in March 2020 during the State of Emergency.”
A number of large supermarkets have also noticed that people are buying a lot more than they usually do.
“Hoarding levels have increased substantially to the point that they’ve exceed the figures for March last year and the increase in sales has caused huge logistical problems for companies,” they said.
The supermarkets have asked the Government not to launch confusing messages when there's adverse weather conditions and to think about what they're saying when they announce new restrictions "because it makes consumers think that we are facing a dire situation that will affect food supplies,” says Servera.
“Storm ‘Filomena did cause logistical problems for Madrid distribution centres and some meat products were missing from supermarket shelves for a few days, but the Government must speak clearly to avoid misinformation."