With steak and cheese theft protection, empty coffee pots and fewer groceries on the shelves, UK supermarkets are struggling to cope with an increase in theft that has returned to pre-pandemic levels as the cost of living has risen. Stores have to spend a lot of money to reduce theft.

Police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded almost 33,000 cases of shoplifting in March, according to data analyzed by the BBC. This is a significant 30.9% increase in thefts compared to March 2022.

Photos circulating on social media show a range of measures supermarkets have to take to curb theft. One user posted an image showing a package of steaks protected with anti-theft tags in a co-op store. “They pack steaks like gold bars,” he wrote.

Another user posted a photo of empty coffee cans on a shelf at the Co-op. Customers who want to buy coffee should ask the counter for the regular packaging. However, a spokesman for Co-op told the BBC that this is not a national policy, but actions are being taken locally, in stores facing specific problems.

In 2021-2022, thefts cost UK retailers nearly £1bn.

At M&S ​​stores, photos show empty refrigerators with only three steaks. One Twitter user wrote that he was shocked to see the almost empty shelves. As the store employee told him, this is a deliberate move, because otherwise “the thieves will immediately empty the shelves and go on the run.”

And in this case, the representative of M&S explained to the BBC that this is not a general policy of the company, but measures that each store decides depending on the problems it faces. Meanwhile, other photos on Twitter show anti-theft cheeses in an Aldi store.

Sainsbury’s recently caused controversy by installing bars at some of its self-service checkouts that force customers to scan their receipts before they are allowed to leave. The supermarket believes that this will scare away thieves.

The rise in theft comes as food prices rise at the fastest rate in nearly 45 years in the UK. Supermarket merchandise prices rose 19.1% year-on-year in April and, although down slightly from March, remain close to record levels. Basic products such as sugar, milk and pasta have risen in price dramatically.

Tom Ironside, director of business and regulation at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Thefts cost retailers nearly £1bn in 2021-22, money that could be used to lower prices and invest in better customer experiences. To solve this problem, companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on security personnel, video surveillance systems, security tags, and other anti-crime measures.”