The supermarket chain ASDA has chartered its own cargo ship to protect the availability of key festive products including festive decorations, toys, clothing and gifts.
The ship is carrying 350 containers of festive products as the supermarket seeks to ensure that its Xmas supplies arrive on time.
The supermarket also announced that it isincreasing the volume of turkeys and pigs in blankets in store compared to last year, as well as building extra stock of festive products in depots such as mince pies, confectionary, Christmas cakes and puddings.
Asda has also recruited 15,000 temporary colleagues to serve customers during the busy Christmas period and increased the capacity of its grocery home delivery service to 1m slots in the final week before Christmas – hitting a goal set in Q3 2020 and up from 765,000 slots in Q4 last year.
In a call with investors, Asda said it was successfully navigating the industry-wide supply chain challenges and highlighted the proactive steps it has taken during recent months to help ensure its shelves are stocked with everything shoppers need for Christmas.
Owners Mohsin Issa CBE and Zuber Issa CBE said:
“We know how much Christmas means to our customers, especially after some missed out on celebrations with friends and family last year. Our colleagues have pulled out all the stops during the last few months to make sure customers can get their favourite festive products at Asda and enjoy the Christmas they deserve – and we’d like to thank them for their continued effort and commitment to serving our customers.
