Retail Week understands that both Sainsbury’s and the Co-op are among the worst affected, although the issue is becoming increasingly widespread across grocery and other retail categories. 

One grocery source said: “The main impact has been on availability. Suppliers not being able to get products to retailers quickly enough, which means retailers haven’t been able to get those products out to stores quickly enough. 

“It means that, across the industry, availability levels aren’t quite where they’d like them to be. That’s across both fresh and ambient products.”