Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts is in direct contact with the government to mitigate any knock-on effects of the supply chain issues in the Red Sea and Suez Canal.
Roberts said the grocer is having “regular calls” with the government about the ongoing issues in the region, alongside other businesses, to make sure “we know what the latest intel and understandings are” of the situation.
He said the impact at the moment is that “the vast majority of shipping companies are now going around the Cape [of Good Hope], which takes 10 to 14 days longer than going through [the Red Sea and on to] the Suez Canal, for obvious reasons. As a result, we’re making sure that we plan the sequencing of product from the Asia Pacific so that we can get the right products delivered in the right order.”
Roberts added that Sainsbury’s supply chain team has “a lot of experience” dealing with challenges over recent years and, in the short term, there were unlikely to be availability or cost issues feeding down the supply chain to the shelf edge.
He said: “We’re working hard to make sure that we mitigate any impacts for customers, both in terms of availability, but also we have long-term contracts in place on these issues, to make sure that we mitigate any cost impacts as far as possible. So far, we’ve navigated this but we’re keeping an eye on it closely to mitigate any issues.”
Despite this work, Roberts said pressure could be felt on products such as wine and some general merchandise categories.
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