Yahoo Finance Wetherspoons hit with shortages as toast is temporarily off the menu
JD Wetherspoon is the latest chain to suffer with shortages as they have been unable to serve some customers toast.
A supplier of bloomer bread to Wetherspoons has had labour difficulties and one branch of the pub chain reportedly blamed Brexit as the cause of the supply problem.
Some customers aren’t able to have toast because of the lack of bread.
Their breakfasts make up a significant proportion of the sales.
One customer, who visited one of the Bath branches, told trade magazine The Grocer she was told the problem was down to a “shortage of drivers due to Brexit”.
A spokesman for Wetherspoons said: “A supplier of bloomer bread to Wetherspoon has had labour difficulties at its production facility.
“Thirteen breakfast menu dishes have bloomer bread as part of the meal. Eleven other breakfast meals are unaffected, including meals which have breakfast muffins, breakfast wraps and eggs Benedict.”
Watch: Staff shortages could last up to two years, says CBI
It comes after the company apologised to customers last week when some of its pubs ran out of Heineken, Carling and Coors beers.
Wetherspoons founder Tim Martin, an ardent supporter of Brexit, said the shortages were mainly driven by industrial action in recent weeks by drivers and warehouse staff acting on behalf of Heineken.
“Strenuous efforts are being made to link supply issues to Brexit,” the executive chairman said.
“In this case the main link relates to industrial action, Brexit gave the power to the UK Government to allow more HGV drivers in, should it choose to do so.
“There are supply chain issues in many EU countries following the pandemic.
“It has been widely reported that there are shortages of 400,000 HGV drivers in Germany, France and Spain, for example, and Germany, in particular, is struggling with major worldwide supply chain issues.”
Other companies being impacted by the current supply chain crisis include Ikea, who recently apologised to customers for their failure to supply hundreds of items to their stores, and McDonald’s, whose restaurants across Britain were unable to serve milkshakes last week.
The owner of wine giant Hardys also warned truck driver shortages could affect the Christmas season.
Hotels across the UK have been facing staff shortages resulting in a delay in guest check-ins and limited bed linen changes.
Watch: 10 ways to Brexit proof your finances
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