Shoppers are buying frozen turkeys early in a bid to avoid any potential disruption to their Christmas dinner, the boss of Tesco has said.
The supermarket giant said it was confident of good product availability for Christmas but there could still be “bumps in the road” amid supply chain challenges affecting the sector.
Tesco praised the “resilience of our supply chain” as it said it has already hired about 15,000 extra temporary staff as part of preparations for Christmas.
Tesco chief executive officer Ken Murphy said that about 60 per cent of the turkeys it sells each year are frozen but that this is likely to be higher this year.
“We currently have a 10 per cent increase of turkeys and there is noticeably an elevated demand for frozen turkeys,” he said.
“We have a resilient supply chain and really good availability levels.”
READ MORE: Tesco to close the book on £326m accounting scandal
The retail boss also said the supermarket has reduced its range of certain items, highlighting pasta, in a bid to simplify its supply chain.
It came as the firm lifted its profit targets for the year on the back of a “strong” half-year of sales and announced plans to hand about £500 million back to shareholders.
The Big 4 grocer hailed a robust performance as it told investors that both sales and profits grew more than expected in the six months to August.
Tesco lifted its adjusted operating profit target for the year to between £2.5 billion and £2.6 billion as a result, as it said it “outperformed” its competition.
Group revenues jumped by 5.9 per cent to £30.4 billion for the six months, compared with the same period last year.
Operating profits increased by 28 per cent to £1.3 billion for the period.
with PA Wires
Click here to sign up to Grocery Gazette’s free daily email newsletter
