Stockpiling again: Why you don’t need to panic buy

Reports of shoppers queuing outside supermarkets begin again following the second lockdown announcement

On Saturday, Boris Johnson announced a second national lockdown will begin on Thursday 5 November.

The prime minister has said that in light of rising coronavirus cases across the UK, Britons will be told to stay at home until 2 Decemeber.

But ahead of the announcement, which had been rumoured for several days, concerns had been raised that shoppers were already panic buying.

Photographs from social media showed larger-than-usual queues outside major supermarkets and retailers across England on Saturday, including Ikea in West Yorkshire and Costco in Leicestershire.

Meanwhile, photos taken inside a Sainsbury’s branch in Weston-super-Mare shows shelves for toilet roll had been emptied.

During the first lockdown in March, supermarkets including Tesco, Asda and Waitrose were forced to introduce rationing of certain items in response to customers panic-buying and stockpiling.

A view of the toilet roll aisle at Sainsbury’s in Weston-super-Mare, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new national lockdown will come into force in England on Thursday. (PA)

But should you be stockpiling to prepare for lockdown, or possible self-isolation if you develop symptoms and are unable to leave the house for 14 days straight? Here’s everything you need to know.

What are customers stockpiling?

Currently, UK shoppers are reporting that, as in March, people are stockpiling toilet roll, with pictures of empty supermarket shelves doing the rounds on social media over the weekend.

“Seems the local Coop is now cleared out of toilet paper (not that we need any),” wrote author David Hewson on Twitter. “Panic buying seems to be a national sport.”

In March, shortages of goods, such as pasta, rice, milk and hand sanitiser, were caused by the practice of stockpiling itself, and there are concerns that this will happen again as the UK enters into a second lockdown.

Are supermarkets currently restricting products?

Currently, Sainsbury’s is not imposing any restrictions on products, with a spokesperson telling The Independent that it has “good availability”.

Additionally, a Tesco spokesperson said: "We have good availability in stores and online, with plenty of stock to go round, and we would encourage our customers to shop as normal."

It comes after a selection of supermarkets introduced limits on the sale of some key items to prevent customers from panic-buying in September as the government introduced new coronavirus restrictions.

At the time, Tesco restricted people from bulk-buying products such as flour, pasta, toilet rolls and anti-bacterial wipes, in a move similar to Morrisons, which introduced limits on such items at the same time.

Should you be stockpiling?

Supermarket bosses have frequently advised shoppers not to stockpile throughout the pandemic and called on them to buy only what they need, stating that there is more than enough to go around.

Tesco CEO Dave Lewis said in September that panic-buying is “unnecessary” and added that it “creates a tension in the supply chain” that can be easily avoided. 

Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, penned an open letter to customers urging them to “shop considerately” and reassuring them that Aldi stores remain “fully stocked”.

Meanwhile, during the first lockdown, chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance also said members of the public should not resort to “panic-buying”. 

“I think the advice is that there is absolutely no reason to be doing any panic buying of any sort or going out and keeping large supplies of things,” he said. 

“Clearly there will need to be measures in cases of household quarantine for making sure food is in the right place at the right time but we imagine that could be a rolling case of household quarantine if that measure becomes necessary, and clearly things will need to be in place for care homes and so on if that decision is made.”

Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: "Retailers have done an excellent job in ensuring customers have access to food, medicines and necessities throughout this pandemic. 

"Since March, retail businesses have strengthened their supply chains, expanded their online and home delivery capabilities, and invested hundreds of millions of pounds to make stores safe and secure for customers. 

"There is more than enough food and other essentials for everyone to get what they need and we urge consumers to be considerate of others and shop as they normally would.”