Lockdown panic-buying

Sir, Since the outbreak of Covid-19, life in the UK has changed beyond recognition. People have been panic-buying food and household products with no concern for the elderly, vulnerable and NHS workers.

Whilst store cupboard essentials will keep for months, fresh items will not. For people to buy this food when they didn’t need it is despicable, especially when others have gone short. To then throw it away is unforgivable.

Simply buy what you need, eat what you buy and preserve anything that is left over. We owe this to ourselves and to each other.

Jonathan Straight, brand ambassador, Approved Food



Big Tech data-sharing

Sir, As a technologist who spends much time on the future of retail, I must urge you and your colleagues to mindfully craft any implementation of Amazon’s new Just Walk Out technology, which launched last month.

Convenience is king and naturally you must use the tools at your disposal to make the grocery experience brilliant - all I ask is that you play hard-ball on data sharing, work with regulators to protect consumers, and be transparent with the public.

Understanding how much information could be shared with Big Tech for a swifter sarnie would do wonders to fuel the debate on data privacy.

Gracie Page, emerging technology director, VMLY&R UK



Digitising auction marts

Sir, Covid-19 and social distancing is affecting all aspects of the UK’s food industry. In the UK’s beef supply chain, while demand is rising, livestock auction mart operations are restricted, with some closing their doors altogether.

Many marts are looking at ways of getting online. We’re currently helping auction marts by offering a digital ‘shop window’. We’re also able to offer clever online bidding technology that allows marts to offer fully online timed auctions or hybrid models that allow online and physical bids where an auctioneer still runs the event.

While we head further into uncharted territory, we’re pleased to see that in the face of adversity, traditional parts of our nation’s food supply chain can work happily alongside the highly digitised world we now exist in.

Andrew Loftus, commercial director, SellMyLivestock