Meat shelves have been cleaned out at the supermarkets in Australia the last couple of visits. Hopefully encourages people to try their local butcher instead.
The fresh seafood was completely empty at my local grocery today
Grocery store shortages are back
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Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#22The QFC (Kroger owned grocery stores in the PNW) by me had to close early this past Sunday because it ran out of people to run the store. I had been there earlier in the afternoon and the site of bare shelves and lines as long as the entire length of the store was actually unnerving.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#23I haven't seen any, myself. And my anecdote is as good as theirs. It'd be nice if they actually pointed to, you know, data, for these kinds of stories. My pizza place was closed though. Everyone out with covid. And it wasn't the usual cashiers over at the grocery; I think they may have been temps, because they didn't know how to do anything.
We have seen it too. And they did point to data: a rise of posts about it on social media. They also interviewed experts about the issue and why it's happening.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah I did the pantry thing after March 2020 (in the basement, the kitchen doesn't have a proper pantry) and wasn't careful enough about protecting it. It was fine for a year, but this winter we got mice in the house and now we have to toss what wasn't in cans or plastic containers already. We set some live traps and I've caught and released (several miles away) four mice already. Still a good idea, we just can't hav…
it’s advertised as a kibble container but we all know it holds 25 pounds of flour juuust fine. (and we use it quickly enough, which is kind of shocking but also, pie crust is easy!)
pie crust is easy
So is pizza dough!
I make it about once a week, and every time I'm reminded of my younger generation boss who didn't know that pizza dough is just flour, water, salt, and yeast. She though it was some kind of magic plastic or something and refused to eat pizza because of it.
People really are getting too far away from their food sources.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#25I haven't seen any, myself. And my anecdote is as good as theirs. It'd be nice if they actually pointed to, you know, data, for these kinds of stories. My pizza place was closed though. Everyone out with covid. And it wasn't the usual cashiers over at the grocery; I think they may have been temps, because they didn't know how to do anything.
You may not have seen it yet but you will. I'm on the east coast and I see it at every store, even Dollar General.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#26"There are some issues with out-of-stocks, but it tends to be a situation where if you go to a store on a Tuesday night, maybe something's out of stock, but by Wednesday sometime it's back in store," Rose told NPR. This describes about the “worst” i’ve seen, in new england. I had no trouble getting some fairly fussy ingredients for holiday cooking or my annual winter anti-depression baking spasms. Still, march 2020 d…
Yeah I did the pantry thing after March 2020 (in the basement, the kitchen doesn't have a proper pantry) and wasn't careful enough about protecting it. It was fine for a year, but this winter we got mice in the house and now we have to toss what wasn't in cans or plastic containers already. We set some live traps and I've caught and released (several miles away) four mice already. Still a good idea, we just can't hav…
Had a mice infestation myself a few years ago. Glue traps worked great. Also, consider getting a cat.
Def seal all your food with plastic or glass containers.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#27I haven't seen any, myself. And my anecdote is as good as theirs. It'd be nice if they actually pointed to, you know, data, for these kinds of stories. My pizza place was closed though. Everyone out with covid. And it wasn't the usual cashiers over at the grocery; I think they may have been temps, because they didn't know how to do anything.
VONS normally sells Open Nature "hormone+antibiotics free" rotisserie chickens on the daily. It's been coming up on a month now that they've been unable to get any of these according to the deli clerk. "We keep ordering them, but they don't show up" in her words.
Starbucks has been completely out of espresso beans on multiple occasions this past month too. It's unclear to me how a Starbucks even stays open without espresso beans, but apparently not all their beverages actually contain freshly pulled espresso... I've only ever gotten shots of espresso.
Walmart has been out of some multivitamins for over a month now too.
I don't buy much stuff from these vendors, this actually amounts to a large portion of crap I consume that isn't just organic produce and canned sardines which I've fortunately not had trouble acquiring. The above is kind of the luxury junk I can do without, but there's clearly problems.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#28I haven't seen any, myself. And my anecdote is as good as theirs. It'd be nice if they actually pointed to, you know, data, for these kinds of stories. My pizza place was closed though. Everyone out with covid. And it wasn't the usual cashiers over at the grocery; I think they may have been temps, because they didn't know how to do anything.
my anecdote is as good as theirs They actually talked to the California Grocers Association, and quoted the CEOs of Albertson's, the nation's largest supermarket company; and Conagra, one of the largest food companies on the planet. Not exactly anecdotes. These are people with access to real data. I haven't seen any, myself. I've seen it. I have a regular bi-weekly list, and a lot of the items are getting harder and…
Would a Grocers Association or supermarket chain have any financial, political or legal reason to overemphasize that unusual or substantive shortages might be happening?
Yes. (Though that doesn’t mean they are wrong or misleading in this case.)
Which is why it is wise to look at actual objective nationwide data first. Anecdotes are useful in suggesting where to check real data (or gather real data if missing).
Whoever is gathering supermarket pricing data on a nationwide basis (secret shoppers) would objectively know what’s happening, if anything, and if it is local or regional or nationwide. An actual news agency would have contacted them and paid for the general non-proprietary regional/national info.
I agree with your take on this being a staffing issue where you are, if they are posting those sorts of signs and actively hiring.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#29Aldi's distribution has been hit particularly badly. A couple of weeks ago, my local Aldi had run out of salt. I never would have imagined a grocery store could run out of salt.
Re: Grocery store shortages are back
#30I have not been inside a grocery store for over a year...
But I have not seen any major changes in my curbside pickup order, no major out of stocks, no major substitution.