Tesco has said that "significant panic-buying" in recent weeks cleared its supply chain of certain items, and forced the company to hire 45,000 new members of staff.

Bosses at the retailer said a 30 per cent surge in demand resulted in the sale of six million tins of baked beans, 3.3 million tins of tomatoes and 3.6 million packs of toilet roll each week as stockpiling increased.

It said 10 per cent of shoppers bought 30 per cent of products while it also reported stockpiling was most prevalent in the South East.

Tesco has seen a 30 per cent surge in sales.

Huge expansion

Tesco said operating costs could be almost a billion pounds higher as a result of the pandemic, with vast amounts spent on recruitment and expanding its delivery business.

Numerous workers have been appointed as drivers and pickers to help expand its delivery business.

Dave Lewis, chief executive of Tesco, stressed that ensuring deliveries can be made to the most vulnerable customers is a "live issue", with the Government providing the supermarket with an initial list of 110,000 people to reach out to.

The retailer said it has increased its number of home delivery slots by around 20% to 805,000 a week, with plans to increase this further.

Mr Lewis said: "On the shop-floor I've seen a greater amount of change in the last two weeks than for probably about the last 10 years."

Rising to the challenge

Tesco said no member of staff has been furloughed but 50,000 staff are currently absent on full pay.

Mr Lewis added: "Covid-19 has shown how critical the food supply chain is to the UK and I'm very proud of the way Tesco, as indeed the whole UK food industry, has stepped forward.

"Initial panic-buying has subsided and service levels are returning to normal.

"There are significant extra costs in feeding the nation at the moment but these are partially offset by the UK business rates relief.

"Tesco is a business that rises to a challenge and this will be no different."

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Frank O'Donnell

Editorial Director

Tesco recruit 45,000 staff in two weeks as sales soar due to 'panic-buying'