Coronavirus: The real reason supermarket shelves are empty

It looks like stores are running out – but the issue isn’t with supply, writes James Moore

Hand sanitiser is one of many items that people have been panic buying (PA)

The public’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak has led to Britain’s supermarkets generating the sort revenues they see only during the pre-Christmas rush, in the final week before the big day.

But there’s a crucial difference in the business mix. Whereas they tend to sell a smaller amount of pricey, high-margin items over the festive period, right now they’re shifting much higher volumes of low-margin items.

Their shelves have been denuded of cans of beans, bags of pasta and, of course, loo roll and hand sanitiser.