Empty shelves in UK due to CO2 shortage

After the supply problems caused by the Covid pandemic and Brexit, a shortage of CO2 is now hindering British food retailers. After all, the gas has several important applications for the food industry.

Important by-product

Due to the CO2 shortage, food stores are at risk of running out of frozen meat and other frozen goods. Online supermarket Ocado already announced before the weekend that it would stop delivering frozen products.

CO2 is a by-product of the fertiliser industry. For instance, the gas is used to cool food (dry ice) and in packaging to extend food’s shelf life. It is also used as an anaesthetic in abattoirs.

But fertiliser manufacturers have been struck by the soaring gas prices, their primary raw material for producing ammonia. Last week, Norwegian company Yara, responsible for about a third of the world’s ammonia production, announced it would cut production by 40 per cent to preserve its margins. Industry peer CF Industries also closed a production plant because of rising gas prices.

Chaos increases

For British supermarkets, the CO2 shortage is a new major setback. The UK is already struggling with supply problems due to the pandemic and Brexit. Among other things, there is a critical shortage of truck drivers.

The CO2 shortage seems to manifest itself only in the UK for the time being. In the Belgian newspaper De Tijd, Bart Buysse, top executive of Fevia, says, “so far, we have not received any signs of shortages.”