Medicine suppliers should prioritise the convenience sector amid an ongoing shortage, to ensure shoppers can access cold and flu products locally during the winter, Bestway has warned.
Lemsip, Nurofen and Calpol have all seen availability issues this year, with demand superseding supply as the cold and flu season kicks in.
The Grocer understands availability has also been hampered by a knock-on effect caused by logistical challenges over the summer heatwave, as well as Brexit disrupting and slowing down supply chains.
While analysis by The Grocer suggests supermarkets have also seen short-term gaps in recent weeks, the impact of such shortages on convenience stores is said to be more acute as they stock fewer lines to begin with.
Bestway trading director Kenton Burchell highlighted the importance of convenience stores having medicine supplies so people can reach them close to home.
“As more consumers are relying on their local stores post-pandemic and especially when they are not well and want to stay close to home, I do feel manufacturers and medicine suppliers should be prioritising the convenience sector,” he said.
According to the ACS Community Barometer 2022, pharmacies were rated the most essential convenience store service.
ACS CEO James Lowman said: “Convenience stores are an important source of a range of products locally, including supplies of over the counter medicines, and are increasingly becoming a place where people can collect prescriptions.
“Pharmacies were rated as the number one most essential service in our Community Barometer this year, but in rural areas especially there is often an issue with local access so it’s of huge value to a community when convenience stores can provide those services to customers.”
Costcutter retailer Sue Nithyanandan said: “We have been sourcing from multiple suppliers to keep shelves stocked. Our preferred wholesaler is Nisa but there is sporadic availability at Booker, Bestway and other direct to store suppliers.
“This time the cold and flu has surfaced much earlier. I think everyone is unmasked and bugs are spreading fast. Also, as it’s almost impossible to see a doctor, people are self-medicating more.”
Nisa said it was also trying to mitigate the situation by offering substitutes to retailers.
A spokeswoman said: “We are working with our suppliers to ensure we get our fair allocation of products and when there are any availability issues we advise our retailers and where possible offer alternatives.”
A Johnson & Johnson spokeswoman said: “Our priority is to ensure that our customers are provided with regular stock and that our products are readily available to consumers when they need them the most. We have been working hard to manage stock levels across all customers, channels and regions following industry-wide logistics challenges and unusually high demand for Calpol over the summer period, including by opening new production lines, running our plant at maximum capacity and building up high levels of safety stock.
“We take our responsibility to parents seriously and as we enter cough and cold season, when demand is high, we will continue to work with our retail partners to help balance supply and ensure good availability across the Calpol range.”
A Reckitt spokeswoman said: “We are seeing significantly increased demand as the cold and flu season kicks in. We are doing all we can to minimise disruption to our customers and consumers.”
The Grocer has been told availability will improve over the coming weeks.
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