Sponsored by Newton, by Harry Holmes2020-12-11T10:08:00+00:00
The key figures who have emerged to drive through not only their own interests, but in some cases those of the entire country
Bare shelves, panicked shoppers and angry supermarkets. That was the situation on 6 March, as industry bosses sat down with Defra officials for the first in a long line of emergency meetings.
It could hardly be described as a swift response. Panic-buying had started to take hold a week earlier and, though the UK was still 10 days from lockdown, supermarket shelves were already running on empty.
By this point, the majority of shoppers had started to fear genuine food shortages would emerge if a major coronavirus outbreak gripped the UK and despite health secretary Matt Hancock assuring Question Time viewers that the government was working closely with supermarkets to safeguard supplies for those who were self-isolating, this was far from the case.