近日，據英國《衛報》《每日郵報》等英媒報道，由於供應問題加上產品種類減少，市場上果蔬等商品供貨不足，多家連鎖超市用硬紙板列印水果、蔬菜的照片，以“填滿”貨架，掩蓋缺貨現狀。
Supermarkets in the UK are using cardboard cutouts of fruit, vegetables and other groceries to fill gaps on shelves because supply problems combined with a shift towards smaller product ranges mean many stores are now too big.
英國《每日郵報》稱，英國的供應鏈問題已經打擊到各種零售行業，從玩具店到加油站，還有食品超市都遇到困難。英國頭部零售集團特易購、第二大連鎖超市森寶利，還有知名藥妝連鎖店博姿都上演“商品不夠圖片湊”的場景，上架各種“2D”食品。
Issues in supply chains have hit many retailers, from toy shops and petrol stations to food shops. Customers at stores including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Boots poked fun at the shops with photos of fake food in the place of empty shelves.
許多英國網友也在推特上曬出這一“景象”並紛紛調侃。
有網友分享的圖片顯示，兩張清晰可見的蘆筍照片擺在超市的蔬菜貨架上。網友還幽默地配文稱：“太好了，英國的蘆筍長到這麼大了，我確信是我們氣候的功勞。”
還有網友在位於英國小鎮費克納姆的特易購超市發現了“好吃的紙板蘿蔔”。
列印的照片就算了，英佰瑞超市空貨架上的圖片只“糊弄”畫上了商品的輪廓，網友無奈：“英佰瑞甚至不試圖把它做得逼真一點。”
據《每日郵報》介紹，由於脫歐和疫情導致英國勞動者薪資減少、勞動力短缺。卡車司機、水果採摘工、工廠食品加工等崗位招不到人。雖然一些專家樂觀地預計這種情況將促進工人工資上漲，但短期內將導致一些超市貨架空空如也。
Low wages and shortages of workers in part owing to Brexit and Covid has left Britain with a shortage of HGV drivers as well as fruit pickers on farms and food processing staff at factories. Although some experts hope in the long-term this will drive up wages for British workers, the short term consequence of the shortages included bare aisles at supermarkets.
英國食品和飲料聯合會主席伊恩·賴特表示，供應鏈問題將在英國持續，並且情況會變得更糟。
Speaking to listeners at an event organized by the Institute for Government, Ian Wright added: "The farm-to-fork supply chain is missing around half a million of the four million people that usually work in the sector. Staff shortage did not mean the UK would run out of food but said higher-margin products would be prioritized by retailers.
他在一場政府研究所組織的活動中表示，“在‘農場到餐桌’這條供應鏈上，行業內400萬的工人已經減少了50萬。員工短缺雖然並不意味著英國會‘食品荒’, 但零售商肯定將優先考慮利潤率更高的商品。”
然而，也有業內人士提出，用圖片代替實物其實是一種營銷策略。
Bryan Roberts, a retail analyst at Shopfloor Insights, said he had only begun to see the cardboard cutouts of fresh produce in the past year, but said similar tactics had been in place elsewhere in supermarkets for some time. He said the cutouts were one of an array of tactics being used to fill space, including filling meat fridges with bottles of tomato sauce or mayonnaise, spreading packs of beer out across whole aisles, and erecting large posters or other marketing material.
英國零售業分析人士布萊恩·羅伯茨表示，雖然自己是從去年才開始看到一些超市用紙板代替生鮮食品，但其實早有超市採用過類似做法。擺上印有蔬果的紙板只是填滿貨架的策略之一，就像在裝肉的冰箱裡放上幾瓶番茄醬或蛋黃醬、將一摞摞啤酒擺滿過道、豎立大幅海報或其他營銷手段。
這類“畫餅充飢”的事件反映出的社會問題驅使政客們再次對英國政府發出提醒。
"The public will soon tire of Boris's banter if the government does not get a grip of mounting crises: price rises, tax rises, fuel shortages, labour shortages. There was nothing new in this speech, no inspiring new vision or policy," the chief executive of the Conservative thinktank Bright Blue, Ryan Shorthouse, said.
“如果政府不能控制日益嚴重的危機——價格上漲、稅收上漲、燃料短缺、勞動力短缺，公眾很快就會厭倦鮑里斯的玩笑。”英國保守派智庫Bright Blue執行長瑞安·肖特豪斯說。
編輯：商楨 焦潔
實習生：張媛
來源：衛報 每日郵報 環球網
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