Barclays Survey Highlights UK Emergency Readiness and Food Waste Risks
UK households are reassessing their emergency supplies following the launch of the government's Be Ready campaign, with research from Barclays indicating that 27% of adults are stockpiling, or considering stockpiling, food and drink. The findings suggest an opportunity to connect emergency preparedness with more careful purchasing, although they do not establish that waste or consumption has fallen.
The campaign, launched by the Cabinet Office on October 22, 2026, encourages households to prepare for three days of disruption to services including electricity, water, phones and internet access. For businesses supplying essential goods, the challenge is to support that preparation while managing demand and avoiding messages that encourage excessive buying.
What the Barclays Findings Show
According to reporting on the research, 60% of UK adults have taken, or are considering taking, at least one preparedness action. Alongside food and drink, 26% have bought or are considering buying items for power cuts, while 23% are taking or considering similar steps for toiletries and household essentials.
Steven Fergus, head of retail at Barclays, described the response as more measured than the empty shelves associated with the early pandemic. He encouraged households to spread purchases over regular shopping trips.
These figures combine completed actions with intentions. They should therefore not be interpreted as evidence that more than a quarter of adults have already increased their food purchases.
Readiness Remains Uneven
The research also points to gaps in existing supplies. Only 44% of respondents said their household had enough food and drinking water for at least three days. Another 22% reported sufficient food but insufficient drinking water, while 10% had enough drinking water but insufficient food. A further 12% said they had neither.
Age differences were substantial. Among adults aged 18 to 34, 31% reported having sufficient food and drinking water for three days, compared with 53% of those aged 55 and over.
The findings identify a preparedness gap, but do not explain all its causes. Income, storage space and household circumstances could affect people's ability to maintain reserves. The Sustainability Magazine report does not provide the survey's sample size or fieldwork dates, limiting assessment of its representativeness.
Preparing Gradually Without Building Surplus
Official guidance places gradual preparation at the center of the campaign. Households are advised to check existing supplies, identify missing items and add them during normal shopping trips. The checklist recommends reviewing supplies every six months and replacing items as necessary.
For food, the guidance favors products with a long shelf life that require neither refrigeration nor cooking, preferably items the household normally eats. This distinction matters during an electricity outage: a cupboard containing ingredients that require powered cooking equipment may offer less practical resilience than its contents suggest.
A rotating reserve offers one way to reconcile preparedness with waste prevention. Households can use older products in everyday meals and replace them through normal shopping, rather than leaving a separate collection untouched until products deteriorate. That approach requires attention to storage instructions and dates.
Why Food Waste Matters
The environmental opportunity is significant, even though the Barclays research does not quantify it. The government's UK Food Security Report 2024, drawing on WRAP estimates, put UK household food waste at 6.4 million tonnes in 2021, representing around 60% of the national total.
Of that household waste, approximately 4.7 million tonnes consisted of edible parts. Food and drink purchased but subsequently wasted cost households an estimated £17 billion, excluding associated cooking, storage and shopping transport costs.
Preventing avoidable waste also avoids wasting some of the resources used to produce, process, package and distribute food. However, keeping emergency supplies is not automatically an emissions reduction measure. Its environmental performance depends on what is purchased, whether it replaces future purchases and whether products are ultimately used.
Implications for Retailers and Suppliers
For retailers, the findings support a practical focus on clear information and proportionate purchasing. Shelf information and online guidance could help customers distinguish between maintaining a modest reserve and buying quantities they are unlikely to consume.
Demand planning should also distinguish temporary purchases to establish reserves from recurring consumption. An initial increase in sales does not necessarily indicate a lasting increase in household needs. Treating it as permanent could leave suppliers or stores with excess inventory.
Retailers could assess preparedness campaigns through availability, stock turnover and waste indicators alongside sales. These measures would help establish whether emergency purchasing supports resilience without creating avoidable surplus.
Resilience Also Depends on Access
The government acknowledges that not everyone can follow every recommendation. Its campaign includes free actions, such as planning with neighbors and registering for additional support from utility providers where eligible.
For sustainability teams, the practical lesson is that preparedness needs both resource efficiency and accessibility. Households need usable essentials, retailers need realistic demand forecasts, and communities need arrangements for people unable to build reserves. Evidence of success would require tracking actual readiness and waste over time, beyond reported purchasing intentions.
Sources:
Cut through the green tape
We don't push agendas. At Net Zero Compare, we cut through the hype and fear to deliver the straightforward facts you need for making informed decisions on green products and services. Whether motivated by compliance, customer demands, or a real passion for the environment, you’re welcome here. We provide reliable information. Why you seek it is not our concern.