The Coronavirus emergency is also spreading irrational panic buying.
Even in the case of a lockdown, grocery stores and pharmacies will be the only stores that remain open, with no risk of food shortage. As outlined by the The Environment Secretary George Eustice in this interview, there is absolutely no need for anybody to stockpile groceries.
Let's see how the main stores are responding to this situation:
To fully restock their shelves, daily opening hours have been reduced. They will close at 8pm (except in Scotland at 6pm).
No home delivery slot available at the time of writing.
They will be prioritising NHS workers in larger stores every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8am to 9am. (click here)
To ensure to fully re-stock their shelves, they have made the decision to temporarily reduce the opening hours of their stores. You can check your local store opening times on the Asda Store Locator which is updated with the latest information.
(In Oxford the store will be temporarily closed due to government advice).
Customers will only be able to buy up to three (3) of any product across all food items, toiletries and cleaning products.
No home delivery slot available at the time of writing.
They are limiting selected products to two (2) per person, and prioritising NHS workers and vulnerable customers during the hours of 8am to 9am Monday – Saturday and 10am to 11am on Sundays.
They are introducing a one-hour shopping window for the elderly and more vulnerable customers at the start of each day during the week.
Also, they will limit certain food and immunity lines to two (2) units per customer.
Delivery slot available at the time of writing.
Temporarily limiting online orders to customers who are over state pension age, self-isolating and other vulnerable people, such as the disabled.
No home delivery slot available at the time of writing (and no before 28th March).
The first hour of M&SÂ trading each Tuesdays and Fridays is dedicated for NHS staff and emergency workers.
They have introduced an NHS hour at the beginning of every day (apart from Sunday), from 7am to 8am.
No home delivery slot available at the time of writing.
You have to queue online! Hitting the refresh button means you will lose your place in the queue.
No home delivery slot available at the time of writing.
They are temporarily suspending the Food to Order service to focus on serving grocery and other essential items to customers in their stores.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all their supermarkets will dedicate 8am to 9am to serving elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers, as well as NHS and Social Care workers. (more information here). They are also limiting all grocery items to three (3) per customer
From Monday 23 March, they are consolidating the opening hours from 8am to 8pm Monday-Saturday. Sunday opening, Sainsbury’s Local hours will stay the same.
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Tesco will prioritize the elderly and vulnerable people for one hour, from 9am to 10am.
Every Sunday, Tesco will prioritise a browsing hour before checkouts open for NHS workers.
Every product is limited to a maximum number of three (3) per customer.
Because of high demand, you will need to wait longer than usual to access waitrose.com. Remember to not close or refresh the page. They will also temporarily close all Waitrose Cafes and rotisseries, and suspend making coffees for the time being.
They are currently not showing the slot booking page for home delivery or Click & Collect orders because there are no available slots.
Food Delivery around Oxford:
If you are a vulnerable person living in Oxford, and you need practical help with the delivery of essential food, you can use this form.
Another food delivery service for elderly and vulnerable people, can be reached here.
In the case you are an extremely vulnerable person, register yourself here, the newly launched initiative from the Uk Government to receive practical support.
Do not forget to visit also local food stores within a safe distance from other people (try to keep 2 metres, 3 steps, away from each other, see NHS guidelines).
Daily Info has also prepared a useful guide to the highlights of food shopping in Oxford, including Farm Shops and indicating which one offer a click and collect service and/or a delivery.
Another website, Fabulous Farm Shops, offer a comprehensive collection of all the Farm Shops based in Oxfordshire.
For milk delivery, you can enter your postcode here and you will find the milkman available in your area.
For cheese home delivery, call the Oxford Cheese Company.
For fresh eggs delivery in Oxfordshire, contact Mayfield Eggs.
Veg boxes with fresh eggs and seasonal items for delivery, call Veg in Clover.
For vegetables, fruits, flowers delivery, check regularly the Facebook Page of Tholurst Organic, to know when they will restock their items. A similar service is offered by Bonners Oxford.
For beef, lamb, pork, chicken delivery contact Mark Miller (Restaurant Supplier): mastermind.mark@hotmail.it or 07808 030056 (no limit to orders).
Please note the Covered Market, in Oxford, will now be closed to the public, but essential food delivery will be available. Here you can find a list of traders that are currently operating a delivery service.
To know more about the services suggested above: