McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) has blamed running out of milkshakes in all its 1,250 UK restaurants on the lorry shortage supply chain issues afflicting the economy.
The fast-food chain is also out of bottled drinks, according to the reports today.
“Like most retailers, we are currently experiencing some supply chain issues, impacting the availability of a small number of products.
“Bottled drinks and milkshakes are temporarily unavailable in restaurants across England, Scotland and Wales.
“We apologise for any inconvenience, and thank our customers for their continued patience.”
McDonald’s is the latest firm to be affected by a shortfall of as many as 90,000 HGV lorry drivers, according to logistics and retail trade bodies.
Nando’s temporarily closed 50 outlets last week due to a shortage of chickens for its peri peri signature dish, with pub and restaurant chains complaining of similar problems.
Rival chain KFC meanwhile has cut back its menu while dairy group Arla has reduced milk deliveries to supermarkets because of logistics problems.
Brexit and Covid-19 have been blamed for the HGV shortage and transport groups have urged the government to ease visa restrictions on European drivers to ease the situation.
The impact of ‘pingdemic’ warnings has also been a factor and something that was blamed for the UK economy starting to slow in the latest economic data.
IHS Markit/CIPS' purchasing index for August hit a six-month low of 55.3, falling from 59.2 in July.