VIJAYAWADA: The lockdown extension has led to a gap between demand and supply of several products in Vijayawada supermarkets. Even though transportation of all essential commodities is allowed, items such as ready to eat food, biscuits, packaged juices and bathroom cleaners are absent from the market for over a week now.
“There are several products that are used often in our daily lives, but do not fall under essential product category. We have not been receiving them for over 10 days now,” said an employee of a More store. Staff of a Big Bazar store in the city said they had been re-stocking their racks everyday, but the demand was much more than the supply. Raju, an employee of another supermart, added: “When we asked our suppliers and manufacturers about the delay in supplies, they told us that there were not adequate workers for production and issues with transportation.” Such food items are popular among bachelors and people staying away from their families for work. They said panic buying had resulted in the shortage.
“People like me who stay alone and barely know how to cook, are heavily dependent on ready to eat food and hotels. But I see families who can cook proper meals and buying these products in bulk. In such a situation, they should be more thoughtful.” rued Alpesh Singh, who works for a private company. Meanwhile, the sale of frozen meat suddenly increased on Sunday due to government restrictions.
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