Tesco Abbeydale Road: Aisles of food potentially lost at Sheffield supermarket after major power cut

Chillers and freezers in a Sheffield supermarket were emptied following a power cut, leaving customers fearing all the food was going to be thrown away.
Alastair Ulke
By Alastair Ulke
Published 20th Mar 2022, 07:03 BST
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Tesco Superstore on Abbeydale Road was hit with a power blackout at around 1pm on Friday after a transformer blew out.

It forced the major food retailer to close early while a new generator was arranged.

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Aisles of chilled and frozen food have potentially been lost to waste at Tesco Superstore on Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, following a severe power cut.Aisles of chilled and frozen food have potentially been lost to waste at Tesco Superstore on Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, following a severe power cut.
Aisles of chilled and frozen food have potentially been lost to waste at Tesco Superstore on Abbeydale Road, Sheffield, following a severe power cut.
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However, yesterday (March 19), every chilled or frozen food aisle in Sheffield store still remained closed to customers and were empty of any food.

Customers told The Star how frozen goods were stacked up in cages and seemingly set to go to waste.

Chilled aisles – including meat, dairy, and ready meals – were completely empty, with no indication if the thousands of pounds worth of products had been recovered or binned.

A spokesperson for Tesco said “all food that can be saved will be”, in line with food safety standards, adding: “We’re sorry to customers for any inconvenience caused.”

Every chilled and frozen food aisle at Tesco Superstore in Abbeydale Road was closed off to customers today.Every chilled and frozen food aisle at Tesco Superstore in Abbeydale Road was closed off to customers today.
Every chilled and frozen food aisle at Tesco Superstore in Abbeydale Road was closed off to customers today.
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One customer told The Star: “All the chilled aisles and freezer aisles were closed off.

“It must be so much food.

“It would be disappointing if I was doing a big shop for chilled stuff today but staff seem to be doing the best they can in the situation.

“It is concerning if all this food is going to waste.

Thousands of pounds of frozen food was seen stacked up in cages after all the freezers had to be cleared.Thousands of pounds of frozen food was seen stacked up in cages after all the freezers had to be cleared.
Thousands of pounds of frozen food was seen stacked up in cages after all the freezers had to be cleared.

“Staff are explaining the situation to customers before they come in and apologising for any inconvenience and they seem to have a lot of hands on deck dealing with it, so they are doing their best from what I can see.”

Related topics:Abbeydale RoadSheffieldTesco

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