@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.
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 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.
Here is a good article from MITSloan Management Review about the supply chain shortages. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-everyone-gets-wrong-about-the-never-ending-covid-19-supply-chain-crisis/
@lovendures the article is a very good primer. I should point out that “just in time” is a nice phrase that in actuality does not exist for the most part except for perhaps the final manufacturer within the supply chain. People will argue that, but always note the supply warehouses built around major manufactures. Those guys basically store enough goods and run trucks 24/7. I see it less eloquently as off site on demand physical storage management.
As for food, despite the shelf shortages the most recent stats continue to show more than 50% of food in North America ends up wasted. We don’t help ourselves at all on this front.
Not all is doom and gloom, at the the same time, the supply chain that has emerged has resulted in the largest increase in standard of living for the lowest socioeconomic classes the world over.
This is a great article about the 7 major shortages we are facing right now. I knew about perhaps four of them, but I was surprised by a few. Wheel chairs and crutches. Some areas around the country are in such need, they are asking people to donate their gently used wheel chairs and crutches. It went from a 3 day wait to an eight week wait. Wow! There are not things people can wait on either. A friend just became overjoyed this week when someone donated a wheel chair to her, now I understand why it became a treasured gift...she couldn't find one anywhere.
Another surprise was the beer wine industry because of a shortage of glass to make their unique bottles. ( I wonder if recycling glass will become a bigger thing now?)
The other was sweatpants. Everyone wore them during the pandemic and many are not made in China anymore because of tariffs so the switched to smaller countries like Vietnam who recently closed down shops due to Covid outbreaks.
Many of the delays have to do with one or just a few of the component parts not being available. For instance, for toys, Lincoln Logs are not available because the plastic for the doors is delayed.
There was an article in yesterday's New York Times about the global urea fertilizer shortage, which is straining mostly farmers but also carbonated beverage producers and South Korean truck drivers. I've been thinking lately about peak phosphorous and how a shortage of industrial grade urea fertilizer will help contribute to the spiraling food prices some of us have seen. But the urea shortage is not causing me to see famine or a Malthusian population collapse. Even the NYT article notes that urea is found in pee.
I once visited an intentional community in Rhode Island where their toilets are designed to capture and divert urine for storage in underground vats (because of the design of the toilets, you have to sit down, no matter your anatomy). After 2 weeks of fermenting, the urine is then sprayed as fertilizer on their crop fields. I think shortages of industrial urea fertilizer will force us to become resourceful about using our waste and will play a role in the re-localization of agriculture. I'm also pretty sure there are a lot of indigenous traditions surrounding pee as fertilizer...
YES!!! There is a young struggling company in VT that has this mostly figured out. Not only does processing urine produce fertilizer, the big money savings is in the reduced energy use by sewage treatment plants from what is not flushed into the system. I will look for the name of it and post it. They say they only need about 2 million dollars to go big; in the venture capital world, that is chump change.
Not all is doom and gloom, at the the same time, the supply chain that has emerged has resulted in the largest increase in standard of living for the lowest socioeconomic classes the world over.
I haven't heard about that. Can you elaborate? (Good news is nice to hear)
Like to celebrate your holidays with spirits? That might be more difficult this year. It might even be more difficult if you like bottled water or soda.
While typical grocery categories are experiencing 5 to 10 percent of products out of stock right now, beverage shortages are higher, with around 13 percent missing from shelves. Shortages have been showing up in waters, iced teas and soft drinks, as well as beer, hard seltzer and canned cocktails.
The problems are certainly true for the world’s largest beverage company, Coca-Cola, whose chief executive James Quincey has said repeatedly that consumers will see sporadic shortages on grocery shelves through 2022.
The company is seeing strong sales, but Quincey said supply chain problems are “a bit like whack-a-mole” during a recent third quarter earnings call. He described shipping, freight and labor problems; ingredient shortages; as well as freak and unexpected challenges — a plastics factory in Brazil bursting into flames or the rising cost of natural gas causing a global shortage of CO2, which gives soda its bubbles.
More can be found at the link below.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/08/beverage-supply-chain-shortages/
1 Potato, 2 potato 3 potato no more.
The globe is having a potato shortage. They are even limiting McDonald's French fry orders to a small size in Japan.
Good thing potatoes are super easy to grow. Might actually use this incentive to start growing some soon.
@blackandwhite I need potato-growing lessons. I have planted them over the last two years and have poor results. Maybe it's our weather in Boston. Maybe I started too late in the season. Maybe we need a lot more sun and a lot more land to grow all the potatoes I want to eat.