Some of Britain’s best-known chips are missing from supermarket shelves after Walkers was hit again by an IT glitch.
About a fifth of all Walkers chips normally for sale at Tesco turned out to be out of stock on the supermarket’s website on Tuesday morning, while about one eighth of the chips sold at Asda were out of stock.
A Walkers spokesperson said: “We had a short-term IT problem that meant that the supply of our chips and snacks was more limited than usual.”
They added that “the availability of our brands in stores remains good, so that fans of crisp can continue to enjoy their favorite snacks”.
It comes months after Walkers was hit by an IT problem at the factory that “disrupted the delivery of some of our products”. last Nov, a failed IT system upgrade resulted in a nationwide shortage† Nearly a third of stores were short of chips after Walkers had to cut production.
The news of the latest disruption comes amid a focus on supermarket supplies and shelf holes.
Many Heinz products remain out of stock at Tesco stores after a while deadlock between the two over pricing† The pair solved the problem late last week, with new shipments of baked beans and tomato ketchup expected to hit stores in the coming days.
Heinz allegedly asked for 30 percent price increases for some products, which Tesco opposed. The supermarket eventually agreed to pay more for the products.
The pair released a joint statement last week saying that the “full range of Heinz products” [will] return to Tesco shelves and online”.
Tesco has also faced pressure on its pet food supply, after brands such as: Whiskas, Dreamies and Pedigree started disappearing from the shelves last week†
A supermarket spokesperson suggested it was a similar bickering over a price increase by Whiskas owner Mars Petcare, saying it was “sorry this means some products are not available now, but we have plenty of alternatives to choose from and We hope this issue will be resolved soon”.