For those looking to purchase meat or seafood, Walmart has limited stock as of Monday, but most other stores have shelves full of for customer selection.--NEWS PHOTO KENDALL KING
kking@medicinehatnews.com
At Monday’s Freedom Convoy 2022, rally co-organizer Chris Barber stated food shortages in Canadian grocery stores were “already” taking place, but a quick walk through most local grocery stores shows major shortages have yet to reach the Hat.
The News visited several grocery stores across the city including Walmart, Sobeys, Safeway and the Northlands Co-op. The only store with some noticeably empty shelves was Walmart, which has a low stock of meat and seafood, as well as baking products.
A Walmart employee confirmed stock was low for select items but believed the result was due to reduced supply as well as increased consumption from shoppers. The employee confirmed the store had been busier than normal throughout the past week.
Employees at Sobeys and Co-op said there were certain items facing limited stock in the stores, but most items were still readily available.
Employees at Safeway on the Southeast Hill say they’ve been warned by management to expect reduced stock, but hadn’t experienced issues as of Monday.
The only item low in stock or unavailable at every store was Kellogg’s cereals, which can be attributed to the 11-week employee strike at Kellogg’s Memphis factory, rather than a shortage of Canadian truck drivers.
In a statement released Jan. 22, the Canadian Trucking Alliance confirmed the “vast majority” of Canadian truckers were in compliance with vaccine mandates and continued to work.
“Most of our nation’s hard-working truck drivers are continuing to move cross-border and domestic freight to ensure our economy continues to function,” the statement read.
Grocery employees say they are readying themselves for possible product shortages, but are unsure if and when they will come.
“We don’t really know how it’s going to be,” said one employee. “Judging by the way it’s been, it could get worse … it’s just really hard to say.”
