Tesco stops selling skimmed milk and scraps multi-buy offers in bid to ensure supply of essential goods after coronavirus panic-buyers strip shelves
- The supermarket giant will only sell the more popular two and four-pint cartons
- Local dairy farms have been drafted to shore up the supply chain in rural areas
- It comes after a wave of panic-buying in the UK as Britons braced to isolate
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Tesco is clearing its fridges of skimmed milk as part of a stripped-back product range to prioritise essential items during the coronavirus lockdown.
Shoppers have been frenziedly panic-buying over recent weeks to stockpile food in case of imminent self-isolation.
The supermarket giant has now moved to curb the variety of products, including toilet roll, to streamline the most popular purchases.
Skimmed milk-drinking customers will soon be forced to choose between either whole milk or semi-skimmed milk.
Fresh milk will also only be sold in two or four pint milk cartons as the shop phases out the less in-demand one and six-pint cartons to create space.
Tesco has cleared its fridges of skimmed milk as part of a stripped-back product range to prioritse essential items during the coronavirus lockdown
Shoppers have been panic-buying over recent weeks to stockpile food in case of imminent self-isolation
Local dairy farms in rural communities have also been drafted to shore up the supply chain.
Multi-pack items have also been refined to allow manufacturers to focus on pumping out one product.
Toilet roll, which flew off the shelves in the wave of panic-buying, will be reduced from 33 varieties to just 10.
Most saver deals will also be scrapped to discourage shoppers from cramming their baskets.
A Tesco spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘In the current climate, when we have a limited amount of stock, promotions such as multi-buys are irresponsible.
‘It means some products have gone back to their pre-promotion prices. We are working tirelessly with our suppliers to maintain supply and keep stores stocked.’
Tesco has laid down tape in many of its branches to keep customers at a two-metre gap in queues
The government has urged Britons to refrain from panic-buying after the elderly and NHS workers were increasingly faced with empty aisles.
The clinical director of the NHS said people should be ‘ashamed’ by such scenes and begged the public to exercise restraint.
It was also revealed that households in the UK have stockpiled a billion pounds worth of food.
After a mass stampede to rammed supermarkets, many began enforcing social distancing policies.
Tesco has laid down tape in many of its branches to keep customers at a two-metre gap in queues.