Norfolk-based vegetable supplier Alfred G Pearce says that it has been forced to deliver less food due to supply chain issues such as labour availability and the lack of HGV drivers. The company says it has overhauled the way it produces fresh food after losing several thousand pounds of stock within a couple of weeks as vegetables rotted at depots due to a lack of staff and delivery drivers.
Director Simon Pearce, told journalists, “The situation remains difficult but is certainly better now the Government, customers and consumers have taken onboard the realities.”
In order to deal with the situation, the company is now selling fewer ‘complex products,’ like juices, smoothies and purees, which require more work to produce. “[It] does have a financial impact,” added Pearce. “However, we can then rotate our workforce on less days resulting in less people being required overall in the week.”
The company, which grows some 60,000 tonnes of vegetables a year, operates from sites but says that it has had to reduce operating hours by around one and a half days a week due to a shortage of staff. As a result, Alfred G Pearce is sending out less deliveries a week. “We are now able to work less days, needing less people, with better vehicle fill for deliveries,” commented Mr Pearce.