In 2021, Sainsbury’s supply chain almost collapsed due to one of the worst driver shortage crises recorded in recent decades. That crisis exposed how fragile food and retail supply chains were when the labor behind them vanishes.
Key Nuggets:
- The UK HGV driver shortage in 2021 was a crisis driven by Brexit, COVID-19, and an aging workforce.
- Sainsbury’s supply chain leveraged its internal fleet and logistics team to keep food flowing while others scrambled for drivers.
- Supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, and Sainsbury’s all faced empty shelves—but each chose a different path to stay stocked.
- African supply chains must stop treating transport labor as an afterthought. Drivers are the backbone, not just the vehicle.
In this article, we unpack what caused the UK HGV driver shortage, how it pushed Sainsbury’s to the edge, and what lessons it leaves behind for every region, especially those with even weaker infrastructure.
Background Story: What Broke Sainsbury’s Supply Chain
In 2021, the UK economy was short of over 100,000 HGV drivers. Trucks weren’t moving, and businesses were stranded. Everyone, including retailers, hauliers, and suppliers, felt the pain.
The labor shortfall had hit the country from four directions: BREXIT, COVID-19, aging drivers, and tax changes. Everyone of them hit at once, turning a long-simmering labor issue into a full-blown supply chain crisis.
But when there are few HGV drivers, trucks cannot move, which more often than not results in missed deliveries. For supermarkets and grocers like Sainsbury’s that sell fast-turning inventory with low storage buffers, every missed delivery meant visible gaps that were very costly.
Read More: Lessons From Amazon’s Failed Supply Planning in 2022.
How The Crisis Affected Sainsbury’s Supply Chain
Fresh food like milk, salad, meat, and bottled drinks were the first to go missing. Milk supplier Arla admitted in July 2021 that it couldn’t reach a quarter of its supermarket delivery points, including Sainsbury’s stores, due to the shortage.
Customers were walking into stores and finding fridge sections picked clean. By October of the same year, 17% of British adults reported being unable to find essential items.
Even when deliveries did arrive, it wasn’t the full product range. Certain brands or pack sizes were missing because distribution centers couldn’t fulfill full store orders. Now, these weren’t nationwide stockouts, but they were rolling disruptions. One store today, another tomorrow.
Suddenly, the cost of keeping shelves even half full was climbing because retailers began competing for drivers. Pay rates jumped, so did reliance on agency drivers, overtime, and spot contracts with third-party carriers.
Read More: How Tiger Brand’s Supply Chain Botched The 2017–2018 Listeriosis Outbreak in South Africa.
How Sainsbury’s Supply Chain Stayed Afloat
Like many of its rivals, Sainsbury’s couldn’t absorb the hit alone. The company had to raise logistics fees charged to suppliers by 2.9%—a move Tesco and Asda also made, though Tesco reached 18% at some point.
But this wasn’t about profit. It was survival in a time where keeping one delivery on time sometimes meant overpaying for haulage just to get the goods moving.
Unlike some rivals, Sainsbury’s actually runs its own fleet. So, amid the crisis, the company was able to reschedule, reroute, and even shift night deliveries to daytime if needed. That internal control and flexibility became a critical shield during the driver shortage.
As CEO, Simon Roberts said, “In-house logistics in Sainsbury’s” provided assured capacity between depots and stores. Where outside hauliers failed, Sainsbury’s drivers delivered.
When supplier trucks didn’t show, Sainsbury’s stepped in. One tactic was sending its own trucks to pick up goods directly from factories and processing sites, especially for essentials like milk and meat. The model worked. It may not have fixed the shortage, but it helped fill gaps.
Sainsbury also rationed attention where it mattered most. The fact was that although every moad mattered, not all deliveries carried equal weight. So Sainsbury’s prioritized high-volume items and large stores, while slower-moving stock or seasonal items took a back seat.
In-store, teams used substitutes to maintain the shopping experience. If one brand of soda didn’t arrive, another did. If a certain pack size of meat was missing, a different configuration took its place.
Read More: Lessons From Daimler Trucks’ Rare Earth Metal Inventory Strategy.
Impact of Sainsbury’s Supply Chain Response
Despite shortfalls, Sainsbury’s supply chain avoided widespread outages. The company prioritized essentials and used its fleet to maintain flow between depots and stores.
Take milk, for example, when supplier distribution collapsed, Sainsbury’s used its own drivers to fetch product directly from production plants. The approach allowed the grocer to maintain store availability—albeit at reduced variety.
Products still reached shelves, even if not the usual brand or pack size.
Sainsbury’s in-house logistics capacity meant greater control over truck movement, scheduling, and driver deployment during the worst of the shortage. Nevertheless, CEO Simon Roberts conceded that while the supply chain held, “availability is below expectations” in some categories.
So, although Sainsbury’s managed to stay open and stocked, it wasn’t at full capacity.
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Lessons From the Sainsbury’s Supply Chain Story
Sainsbury’s supply chain navigation of the driver shortage crisis holds vital lessons for logistics and supply chain operations. Here are some of them:
1. Supply Chains are Highly Susceptible to Labor
Every product Sainsbury’s needed was sitting in a warehouse or factory. But without drivers, they couldn’t get it to stores. It was labor, not materials, that was the constraint, which flipped the usual supply chain fear on its head.
2. Flexibility Matters More Than Efficiency in a Crisis
Sainsbury’s supply chain resilience made it more effective than most supply chains during this period. Sending trucks to collect from suppliers was expensive, and rerouting delivery schedules was messy. But it got goods on shelves.
In moments of disruption, fast improvisation beats perfect planning.
3. Communication Can Prevent Chaos
Sainsbury’s acknowledged delays and thanked staff and suppliers. It avoided triggering panic buying by staying transparent while still protecting public confidence. By contrast, some early alarm bells from other grocers risked stoking fear.
Managing perception is as important as managing freight. More importantly, it doesn’t put your supply chain under undue pressure.
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How African Supply Chains Can Apply These Lessons
African supply chains are highly susceptible to shocks. Doing the following will give them some control when that eventually happens:
1. Build Options into Your Delivery Model
When fuel supply, bad roads, or security issues block Plan A, is there a Plan B? Sainsbury’s survived by bending its system—collecting goods upstream, shifting delivery slots, and rerouting. African networks need the same creativity.
2. Own The Last Mile Or At Least Control It
In regions where third-party logistics are thin or fragmented, ownership gives power. Whether it’s your fleet or dedicated contract partners, controlling delivery legs can buy time in a crunch.
Without that, you rely on hope.
Obinabo Tochukwu Tabansi is a supply chain digital writer (Content writer & Ghostwriter) helping professionals and business owners across Africa learn from real-world supply chain wins and setbacks and apply proven strategies to their own operations. He also crafts social content for logistics and supply chain companies, turning their solutions and insights into engaging posts that drive visibility and trust.
