Coronavirus: Supermarkets face a bigger threat than panic buying, executive warns

A former Sainsbury's chief executive has warned that supermarkets face a greater challenge than coronavirus-related panic buying.

Justin King, who is also a non-executive director at Marks & Spencer, said supermarkets - and other businesses in the sector - needed to prepare for the shortage of labour that could accompany any worsening of the COVID-19 epidemic.

He told Sky's Ian King Live programme: "I think labour is the first thing (to worry about) - many fresh food production systems are dependent on labour on a day-to-day basis."

But he insisted that there were processes to handle absences in the sector, saying: "In food supply chains, protocols around people being absent are already very strong.

"You're not allowed, if you've had sickness and diarrhoea, for example, to come into work and you have to stay off for a quarantine period.

"So, although we may be talking about something that's extreme in the context of what has been coped with before, it's not so materially different that the system doesn't already have processes in place."

He added: "If you look at some of the guidance the government is giving today, that perhaps up to 20% of people will be off self-isolating or perhaps even ill, then that will have a material effect. In supermarkets that will be a bigger challenge than panic buying, for sure."

Mr King said the supermarket sector had been "coping quite admirably" with the challenges of panic buying, as the number of confirmed cases in the UK approaches 400, with six people having died from the disease.

Some retailers have even reported a spike in sales of freezers, as people stock up in case they need to isolate themselves.

Mr King said: "You're going to get empty shelves - in this case, toilet roll - if a relatively small number of customers rock up and buy a month's worth of supply.

"There isn't much back-up stock in any supermarket in the country, but there is plenty of back-up stock in the system - it just takes time for that to refill. I think, to coin a phrase, supermarkets are still in 'don't panic' mode.

"Individual people will make their own decisions. I'm a great believer in the common sense of the great British public and we've seen some extreme examples of customers disputing with each other at supermarkets but on the whole it tends to self-regulate.

"It's pretty hard to do the unthinking - clear a shelf of hand sanitiser when you only really need two or three yourself and share it around.

"The reality is most supermarkets have pretty well tried and tested fair use purchase policies. They have for years and years for promotions, for example, and those have been tried and tested."

On Monday, Sky News revealed that at least one of the big four grocers - Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons - was asking for competition law to be suspended by the government.

This would allow them to co-ordinate things such as shopping deliveries if the outbreak became a pandemic and forced any of them to close.

When asked about a possible expansion of home deliveries to cope with the virus, Mr King said that this was unlikely, due to there already being pressure on the small number of vehicles used for deliveries.

He said: "I'd suggest people who are self-isolating might need to ask a nice neighbour or relative to do some shopping for them.

"Then click and collect will come into play. they'll be able to do their shopping and have it in the store to be collected by a neighbour or whatever."

Regarding the possibility of relaxing restrictions on night deliveries, he said: "Yes, in the short-term it will help because it's a blockage in the system, it stops the system operating as efficiently as it might and lifting those restrictions will make the system work that bit better."