Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, M&S hit by shortage of kitchen cupboard staple

Shoppers have moaned over a UK taramasalata shortage as a strike leads to a dip in supply. Industrial action at Bakkavor, a large supplier of the fish roe dip, has caused a “short disruption” to the supply and availability of taramasalata at supermarket.

Employees at Bakkavor’s Spalding site in the Midlands launched strike action about six weeks ago over pay. Tubs of own-brand taramasalata were out of stock online at Waitrose, Sainbury’s and Tesco, the UK’s largest grocer the Guardian newspaper reports.

The Marks & Spencer dip was also unavailable at Ocado online. In a statement, the Bakkover said: “There has been a short disruption to our supply of taramasalata, but drawing on the skills based across 21 UK sites, production steps up again next week.”

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Taking to Twitter/X, one fuming shopper spoke out as they moved to slam the shortage. They wrote: “I’ve been looking for taramasalata since September!!! I’ve tried multiple supermarkets in different towns and none anywhere.”

Another joked that it had “ruined” their lunch plans .The London-listed company is one of the UK’s largest makers of fresh food such as dips, soups, salads and ready meals. Employees at Bakkavor’s Spalding site in the Midlands launched strike action six weeks ago.

“There has been a short disruption to our supply of taramasalata, but drawing on the skills based across its 21 UK sites, production steps up again next week,” the company told the FT on Monday. The British Retail Consortium, which represents the industry, acknowledged there were taramasalata availability issues but said that retailers were “adept at managing supply to ensure the impact on customers is kept to a minimum and they can purchase goods as normal”.

The Unite trade union has said that 700 of the Spalding factory’s 1,400 workers are currently on strike, however Bakkavor has countered that only 450 are not attending work.