The food industry has been alerted to the threat of a new trucker strike, announced this Monday by the Platform in Defense of Transport, the group of self-employed and small trucking companies that paralyzed part of the food distribution in March.
So the protest caused serious problems for producers and supermarket chains. Several factories had to stop their activity because either they could not transport the food, or they did not receive the raw material necessary for its preparation and packaging. Wholesale markets such as Mercamadrid or Mercabarna suffered from a lack of some foods from the south of Spain, where the protest was most virulent. And in some stores empty shelves were seen in categories such as milk or oil – compulsive buying was added to transportation problems.
The fear of a repetition of this situation is high. For this reason, the entire agri-food and hospitality value chain has demanded this Monday that the safety and supply of products and raw materials be guaranteed "at a particularly critical moment". The agricultural organizations COAG and UPA, as well as the business associations AECOC, ACES, ANGED (El Corte Inglés, Alcampo, Eroski or Carrefour) and Asedas (Mercadona, Lidl, Dia, Consum...), as well as FIAB or the Hospitality employers of Spain, have asked to avoid a repetition of "the serious incidents and violent episodes that affected the proper functioning of the food chain due to the last stoppage of freight transport".
They recall that the March protest "prevented the free entry and exit of company vehicles, logistics centers and farms supplying raw materials." This whole situation caused millions in losses to the food industry and caused tension in supermarkets and among consumers, who stockpiled basic foodstuffs, thus aggravating the situation.
The threat of a stoppage in transport also comes at a very delicate time for the food industry, with the Christmas campaign just around the corner and the tension added by the international context. The sector highlights the damage that the new strike could cause this time, "especially to thousands of SMEs that are already going through a very delicate moment, as a result of the current situation." On the other hand, they warn of the damage that could be caused to consumers if the protest is prolonged.
"We are an essential and strategic sector, as has been shown in the recent crises we have suffered, and we believe that the time has come for the Government to adopt measures that guarantee the proper functioning of the food chain and the supply of food and beverages to the the whole of the population in any situation", add the organizations.
The protest of autonomous carriers and small businessmen collapsed part of the distribution in Spain last March but had a moderate follow-up in Catalonia. In fact, it was the autonomous community with the lowest level of unemployment, sources from the Government, the employers of the sector and various companies confirmed at the time. The incidences were minimal compared to other areas of the country, such as Andalusia or northern Spain.
