Food suppliers: No need for panic buying

Food suppliers in Hong Kong on Tuesday urged residents in the city not to panic shop, as there is more than enough food to go around.

Yuen Tai Trading Co., Ltd, a main supplier of canned food in Hong Kong, told local media the company has stored enough in reserve for the next 2.5 months, half a month more than its usual storage. This month alone the company has seen about 1 million cans of canned food arrive at its warehouses.

Earlier a message claiming the city's legislature is deliberating a seven-day lockdown of the city during the city's mass testing has spread fast on the Internet. It led to a massive panic buying and shelves in major supermarkets going empty.

The LegCo Secretariat on Monday in a statement debunked the rumors, saying no discussion on imposing a full lockdown of the city has been conducted in LegCo.

The company said it has received calls for orders double the normal quantity.

Reassuring the public, it stressed its stockpile is enough to handle the surge of demand even if the government did impose a full lockdown during the planned mass testing in March.

But the company stressed it has no plans to increase the price of commodities in the near future.

Noting the empty shelves of supermarkets, Thomas Ng Wing-yan, chairman of the Hong Kong Food Council, also reassured the public not to worry about food supplies in the city.

The transportation of food and daily necessities are temporarily affected owing to the surge of infections among cross-boundary truck drivers, Ng said, which increased the cost of logistics.

But there is enough food supply and no need to panic shop, he said, adding major supermarkets have abundant supplies in their warehouses.