Canadians ‘do not need to panic’ about food shortages amid COVID-19, experts say
March 17, 2020Marc Fortin, president at the Retail Council of Canada in Quebec, said there are “no issues at this point” when it comes to Canada’s food supply.
“Warehouses are getting their goods delivered, orders are coming in,” he said. “So the question is getting the products back into the store.”
He said the amount of product that would have been sold in approximately four days was sold in a matter of hours.
Fortin said for the next little while, Canadians may see less variation at the grocery store as workers replenish their stock from warehouses, but that as the weeks go on, all products will be made available.
He said “Canadians do not need to panic” and that by this weekend stores should be “back to almost normal.”
In a statement on Monday, Galen Weston executive chairman at Loblaw Companies Ltd. too said Canadians should not worry.
“Our supply chain and store teams are responding to the spikes in volume and quickly getting the most important items back on the shelf,” he said. “Volumes are already normalizing somewhat, and we are catching up.
