McDonald’s runs out of milkshakes in Wales, England, Scotland

McDonald’s fell short of milkshakes and a few bottled drinks at restaurants in England, Scotland and Wales to offer to their customers. The fast-food chain has reportedly been facing issues with the availability of of packaged drinks and shakes across its 1,250 outlets.

An updated statement said “it was working hard to limit the impact on deliveries and customers and had taken some items off its menus for now.” Lorry shortage was stated as one of the reasons behind the disruption. 

Also Read | Popeyes to enter chicken nuggets war after fried sandwich success

The statement read, “As reported, a number of issues are impacting retailers in the UK at the moment, one of which is the nationwide shortage of HGV drivers.”

This, however, is not new. Many businesses have been facing issues with supplies because of shortage in drivers.

A survey by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimated, earlier this month, a shortage of over 100,000 drivers in the UK, out of a pre-pandemic total of about 600,000.

According to the RHA, the historic shortage in drivers had primarily been caused by changes to rules after Brexit happened. Interestingly, over 30,000 HGV driving tests did not take place last year because of the coronavirus pandemic as well. 

Many firms in the UK have been facing a similar situation. Logistics UK, which represents freight firms, and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) wrote to the government to request for new measures to deal with the issue on Friday. 

A government spokesperson said last week it was making efforts to handle the HGV driver shortage. Streamlining the process for new drivers to get their HGV licence and increasing the total test threshold are a few methods expected to be adopted. 

The shift towards McCafés was a deliberate policy to garner more customers beyond mealtimes. However, the supply chain issues have forced the franchise to decide to prioritise big sellers at the expense of milkshakes.