Fresh foods, processed and pre-packaged food and drinks products are a staple part of every person’s weekly or occasional shop, as indeed are all those little extra luxuries we all like to treat ourselves to from time to time. Here in the UK, most consumers simply expect that these food products will be readily available at their local supermarket or convenience store when they visit or place an order for these products.

However, due to the constraints on employing foreign workers, many of whom use to work within the food and associated sectors, and the impact of isolation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, this has placed increasing pressure on the food sector to be able to produce sufficient food products to satisfy consumer demands. This problem has been witnessed in recent warnings from retailers of food shortages, which, if not quickly addressed, could cause further problems.
  
As the UK government moves to relax the rigid Covid-19 isolation regulations for workers within the food sector, this is likely to provide some relief for food producers. Nonetheless, in isolation, it will not address the problem caused by the significant reduction in the numbers of foreign workers who were traditionally employed, often on a temporary basis, by businesses involved in the food sectors, particularly in agriculture and food processing plants.

The provision of short and longer term temporary workers is a service that Teamwork Partnership has been offering to clients within the food sector for over two decades, and would welcome the opportunity to other food businesses facing the current challenges.