There is no reason why the Government should have had any misconceptions about the capacity of online retailers to cater for the increased demand from consumers shopping from home. Online accounted for a small proportion of the market before the pandemic and retailers were advising Defra on their capacity to increase the service. In encouraging people to shop online without acknowledging the limited capacity of retailers to cater for that demand, the Government set the scene for public COVID-19 and food supply 47 frustration and for blame to be placed at the door of the retailers. We are concerned that there may have been a failure of communication between Government and the public, and across Government. The Government should clarify how it intends to manage the mismatch between demand and capacity for online food shopping in the event of a second wave of COVID-19 infections. There should be better communication across Government and between Government and the public about online capacity.