First World War: food supply & shortages

Before the First World War, over 75% of the butter, cheese, eggs and bacon consumed in the UK came from overseas.

The outbreak of war brought an urgent need to cut down on imports to save foreign currency, and to reallocate shipping to the war effort. Food shortages therefore became a serious issue.

As soon as war was declared in 1914, Sainsbury’s posted notices in the windows of all its branches stating that regular customers would be kept supplied and warning against hoarding. Despite this appeal, queues began to form as worried customers stocked up on basic foodstuffs.

Panic buying quickly pushed up the prices of imported provisions, particularly sugar and butter. Regulations were put in place: managers were instructed not to sell more than 2lbs of sugar to anyone. The pre-war incentive schemes offering gifts of china, cutlery or table linen with purchases of sugar were also suspended.

Luckily, good relationships with UK suppliers such as Lloyd Maunder and Frank Sainsbury, meant that some ‘home-produced’ food could still be obtained at reasonable prices. With the rising price of imported butter, margarine became an important product during these war years.

Sainsbury’s ran a huge advertising campaign to encourage people to switch to its own-brand margarine Crelos, describing it as ‘the most delicious, digestible and economic form of fat food you can buy.’

However, even if goods were available, the requisitioning of delivery horses by the army affected distribution to the branches. Home delivery services in some areas were also stopped and customers were asked to carry smaller parcels home for themselves. They were also encouraged to settle their accounts promptly. John Benjamin Sainsbury wrote to managers:

‘I have to pay cash for all goods and must ask my customers to do likewise.’