@lovendures - Yes, same here in Portland suburbs. Rite-aid has many empty shelves. I went there for a flu shot and they were turning people away because they are under staffed. They were booked up for two days. I made an evening appointment online. I couldn't get a quart of paint at Miller's unless I waited an unspecified amount of time. Finally went to Home Depot for it.
Prices are increasing here for everything; groceries, utilities, etc. This sounds like part of the "new normal". From what I read it sounds like issues with supply chain as well as manufacturing.
Restaurants are continuing to adjust their menus as shortages and rising prices for ingredients provides challenges. This includes meat, cheese and olive oil. Even locally sourced items. Additional shortages for this industry can be found with staffing and tableware.
https://qz.com/2070272/us-restaurants-are-changing-their-menus-due-to-supply-shortages/
Pepsi has announce yet another price increase for the beginning of next year and plastic bottles and cans are still in short supply.
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/pepsico-raises-annual-revenue-forecast-2021-10-05/
Canned goods may be in short supply due to an aluminum shortage and price increase of 40% since January. This would include canned beverages and canned vegetables.
https://www.today.com/food/fall-may-bring-more-grocery-shortages-here-s-what-expect-t232372
So, yes, we will have food available but we will need to continue to adjust our expectations.
If you really want that canned pumpkin to make Thanksgiving pumpkin pie or any other shelf stable key recipe ingredients, perhaps you should start locating them now and storing them to use when the time comes so you will not be driving around town Thanksgiving week trying to find them.
Or just go with the flow and be prepared to have a creative and not quite traditional holiday meal. That would work too. Might even be fun.
When will the shipping crisis finally be over?
Boy have prices gone up over the past month, even the past 2 weeks.
I tend to shop in Spouts, Trader Joe's, Costco and now Aldi's but will go to a regular supermarket for quick in and out visit for items I am in need of from time to time. That is what brought me to Safeway yesterday.
And then I decided to do something I haven't done for a long time in a large supermarket, slowly walk the store aisles and just notice what was going in the store, even for food I would not normally buy. I wondered how different my observation would be compared to the other places I normally visit.
Well, a lot of the same thing is going on at my Safeway as is going on in the other stores, but it is more pronounced. I would say 20% of the shelves were bare, but some aisles had larger gaps. Many aisles had less product choice available. For instance, Barilla Pasta was plentiful but that was basically the only brand which could be found and it couldn't fill in the entire pasta section, only about a quarter of it.
Everyone wants bottled water apparently, very little available. Some frozen food brands have shrunk the size of their meals. Few canned vegetable brands or varieties of vegetables.
When something IS on sale, it is often just a little bit off from the normal price. I noticed a number to items which were only 10 or 20 cents less then normal. When there was a good sale, there was no product left available.
The slow creep of rising grocery prices...well I don't think there is a slow creep anymore.
So, it is what I expected for the most part. The prices are notably rising, product is just harder to come by and there is a lack of variety of brands or breadth of variety of options within the brand. Not a lot of different flavors or styles. Want baked beans? Ok we've got them. But only from brand X and only regular, no maple, bacon, or vegetarian. Want vegetables in that frozen meal, well if it has vegetables it isn't on sale and not only that, it is actually 2 dollars more to begin with.
Trader Joe's is by far my favorite place to shop. Excellent energy in the store, happy and upbeat workers and customers. They really try to keep it looking well attended and well stocked and shelves are mostly fronted with minimal bare spots. They do run out of product but it doesn't feel like the store is having many supply issues though I know they must. Sprouts also has pretty good energy and is mostly stocked well. It is right around the corner from where I live so it is my go to store. In contrast, Aldi's always looks like it is only partially stocked with huge gaps on shelves. I had never gone there before the pandemic so I don't know if that is normal or more pandemic/supply chain, lack of staff related. I do appreciate many of their prices and interesting items they have available so I will keep going for those things. It is a bit like going on a treasure hunt there, but VERY bare bones. Sprouts also has pretty good energy and is mostly stocked well.
Safeway, well, I will keep going for limited things. I'm sure it isn't easy being in the grocery business right now. It sure isn't easy being a customer either.
@lovendures But it's just a temporary thing and it'll be over soon, right?
@lovendures We don't have any real shortages of grocery items here (north FL) that I've noticed. I wonder if that is because of being on the East Coast vs. the West?
The only shortages I've noticed this time around (vs. spring of 2020) are things like mechanical parts and tech items, and that has been more or less ongoing since the start of COVID.
As far as grocery stores here's my 2 cents:
I shop at Publix, which is a southeastern chain. It's always clean and decently stocked, and the employees are helpful and positive. The management treats their employees well (this is from people I know who actually worked/work there), and they make a point of proactively hiring the mentally less-able as baggers and stockpersons. Earlier this year some people called for a boycott of the chain because a member of the family who owns it donated $$ to TFG's cause---- but for my part I figure that donor doesn't seem to represent the ideals of the store management, who certainly seem to do well by their employees--- people work there for literally decades on end and actually seem happy about it. (Either that or they give all the workers good drugs before their shifts...)
My two cents on the shortages is that they are part of the Great Turning, and as such, they are going to be up and down for some time. That puts me with @lovendures who called it a new normal. Not that we are going to now have shortages all the time, but that there may continue to be disruption of the old system for quite some time.
Back in 2011 or 12, our Read the Future group saw shortages and empty shelves in the 2020's. We had no idea why we were seeing it. But often these old predictions give us a clue to what is coming. I also saw what felt like a new healthier normal in 2028. Between now and then, I wonder if we can expect fits and starts.
Our world is in transition from an old world that is declining to a new one that is rising up. The decline has been in the making for decades but hit hard in 2020. Rising up now for several years. I like the new world that is rising, but it's going to be coming in fits and starts. Perhaps someone can expertly unpack the shortages, because I cannot do that right now. I am curious what @asian would say if he were to see that I've tagged him. It's been a long time since he's posted. @Asian has a good international perspective on the world economy.
If part of the shortages involve people no longer wanting to work meaningless low paying jobs, then that's something I look forward to seeing resolve for them.
Perhaps someone like @jess-dream-2020 could go back and read all the old predictions to get the answer. Those visions are likely to offer something more accurate, if taken together, than someone trying to respond to your question. Takes some effort, but it would help you to come more up to speed with what we are all about here.
If part of the shortages involve people no longer wanting to work meaningless low paying jobs, then that's something I look forward to seeing resolve for them.
Me too. That and people realizing maybe--wow!-- maybe they don't actually NEED all the stuff they are accustomed to buying? (And for which they were working meaningless low paying jobs?)
I love it when a store chain is good to their employees. When your employees are treated well, they are more likely to pass on that positive energy on in the work they do and to customers they interact with. I appreciate shopping where people CARE.
Glad you haven't noticed any real grocery issues right now. I don't understand the lack of water because AZ hasn't faced any natural disasters but who knows if it is a problem stemming from a different area of the country or the people here are just in stockpile mode.
Perhaps because since the east coast gets water from places not in drought and the west coast has had so much drought that source water is in shorter supply out here?
I got my booster today at Albertsons, a sister store to Safeway. After my shot, I walked around the store for a bit and noticed it was better stocked. Being a sister store, many of the same items were low in stock as well, but I did notice the can beans had a greater variety haha.
I am not concerned we will run out of food. What I am noticing is an increase in pricing which means people will be more conscious of what they are purchasing and less to chose from. We are not used to less options.
I am looking forward to what new supply flow solutions will come from the current situation. I am looking forward to many things which will arise for this time including the collective being more grounded, especially in the first world countries.