Baxenden Bank
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Wonder how sales of freezers have been over the past few days?
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Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying
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telstarbox
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My local Sainsbury's at lunchtime had no bread, pasta, toilet roll, fresh meat or most tinned items. Everything else including alcohol was stocked well. Wonder if people have stocked up for working from home (in place of buying lunches out) - anecdotally lots of companies in London have sent their staff home this week.
Bletchleyite
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GRALISTAIR
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In WalMart in Dalton Georgia USA all the rice has gone from the shelves. Interestingly there is plenty of tinned baked beans and pork mix. So I got 3 cans. Plenty of fresh meat though.
deltic
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Working from home - popped out at lunch time to large Sainsburys - been virtually emptied of all fruit and vegetables, most fresh meat, tinned food, all pasta, frozen food completely empty apart from ice cream, toilet rolls, pain killers etc - only alcohol and pet food along with non-food items seemed to be in abundance although there was also quite a bit of bread and dairy products.
hexagon789
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Cheers guys, it's something I never knew pubs offered anywhere in the UK, I always assumed that's what off-licences and of course supermarkets dealt with and that alcohol purchased in pubs was for consumption on premises only.
edwin_m
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Isn't there a notice above the door that says something like "Joe Bloggs, Licensed to sell Alcohol for consumption on or off the premises"?
Bletchleyite
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It's rare to do it. I think I've done it all of about twice.
Baxenden Bank
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Always use to be a legal requirement. I believe it no longer is. Some publicans continue to do it out of professional pride.
Bletchleyite
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Or because they've been the landlord for ages and the sign is just still there.
I saw a mention in the paper a few days ago that John Lewis had reported a large increase in freezer sales in the last month.
initiation
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The home working thing combined with no eating out at restaurants will have quite a material impact on demand. Several people I know in my office might eat lunch out numerous times per week + similar in the evenings. That could easily add >25% to the total weekly shopping amount.
I looked up the other day there are around 7000 supermarkets in the UK (not counting corner shops, small shops like co-op etc..), that's ~9000 people per supermarket. A super market might have what, a few hundred bags of pasta available - call it 400 bags. If every one (on average) of those 9000 people wants a single bag, even if the shelves get fully restocked everyday, it will take 3 weeks for demand to be satisfied. We are less than 2 weeks into pasta panic buying and the shelves have not been fully restocked everyday.
This is a slighlty worrying point, supermarkets are keen to point out that it is 'just a delivery issue', stop hoarding and it will be fine...but if that is the reality and replicated across the country...hmmm
I looked up the other day there are around 7000 supermarkets in the UK (not counting corner shops, small shops like co-op etc..), that's ~9000 people per supermarket. A super market might have what, a few hundred bags of pasta available - call it 400 bags. If every one (on average) of those 9000 people wants a single bag, even if the shelves get fully restocked everyday, it will take 3 weeks for demand to be satisfied. We are less than 2 weeks into pasta panic buying and the shelves have not been fully restocked everyday.
This is a slighlty worrying point, supermarkets are keen to point out that it is 'just a delivery issue', stop hoarding and it will be fine...but if that is the reality and replicated across the country...hmmm
I do wonder whether we might eventually see the supermarkets forced to reduce the supply to a small number of 'essential' foodstuffs. All the luxury items gone and just a large supply of basics instead. Clearly, they are not set up for this at the moment but that doesn't mean that this is not where this ends up.
That’s not a bad point. Get rid of the scented candle section for a start.
I think it very much depends on the individual licence conditions, but where off-sales from pubs are permitted in Scotland, the alcohol has to be purchased by and removed from the premises at 10pm - as far as I recall anyway (It has been a while since I did my personal licence exam so the details are a bit hazy, to be honest). It's an expensive way to buy booze, and rather pointless if you have a nearby shop that closes at 10pm.
DelayRepay
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I went to M&S - their food hall was well stocked. Not the kind of place you go to panic buy, I suppose, but good if you want some fruit, veg or fresh meat. A little pricey but I'll eat well for the next week or so, I suppose.
alxndr
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Talking to my mum today apparently my gran (who should certainly stay put and out of harms way) went out trying to buy another freezer. She couldn't find anything under £600.
Bantamzen
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Just out of curiosity I searched for the model of 90ltr freezer I bought early last year for £179. Its now coming in at over £400! Unsurprisingly there is going to be some price gouging going is going on, fuelled in part by the sudden panic buying. I'm only surprised that the electricity / gas tariffs haven't also be gouged to take advantage of all this extra storage / heating demand...
There won't be much difference in total electricity demand. Many employers are encouraging (or obliging) their workers to work at home. That means that their power demands falls. That includes air conditioning that is rare in the home. (Electric) rail services are being scaled down, shops in city centres will close and with BST ending in 10 days, domestic lighting demand will fall.
Once refrigeration has reached it set point, all of these new freezers (and there's only going to be what is already in the supply chain extra) won't be using much as they'll all be packed full with food that won't be needed before its use by dates are reached.
Bantamzen
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There won't be much difference in total electricity demand. Many employers are encouraging (or obliging) their workers to work at home. That means that their power demands falls. That includes air conditioning that is rare in the home. (Electric) rail services are being scaled down, shops in city centres will close and with BST ending in 10 days, domestic lighting demand will fall.
Once refrigeration has reached it set point, all of these new freezers (and there's only going to be what is already in the supply chain extra) won't be using much as they'll all be packed full with food that won't be needed before its use by dates are reached.
My comment was slightly tongue in cheek...
However, this does raise a valid point. Are people panic buying all this food actually going to eat it all, or is a lot of it simply headed straight for landfill?
I doubt that they have given it any thought. It's herd instinct so far.My comment was slightly tongue in cheek...
However, this does raise a valid point. Are people panic buying all this food actually going to eat it all, or is a lot of it simply headed straight for landfill?
Bantamzen
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I'm certain they haven't, although I wouldn't call it so much herd instinct as a mixture of downright stupidity & selfishness. Nowhere that has had even the harshest lock-down has had anything like the kind of food supply problems idiots in this country are causing.
CaptainHaddock
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This picture's been doing the rounds, I found it quite amusing...
Even in a disaster no one wants the vegan food
Even in a disaster no one wants the vegan food
It's been the same in every supermarket i've been in. It's starting to make me wonder how much of this food range has been rapidly expanded recently just to appease the social media revolution towards veganism and how much of it is being thrown away.
trainophile
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Vegan food is often twice the price of normal food.
DynamicSpirit
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Or maybe, vegans aren't generally the kind of people who irrationally panic-buy everything
Some of it is amazingly tasty - I have reduced my meat intake a lot in the last year or so with the increased range or vegan and vegetarian alternatives.
TrainGeekUK
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I work for a supermarket chain and yes this is likely. The issue now is the lack of staff at the depots to pick deliveries. The stock is there, but as the depot staff numbers are dwindling, it will be the bare basics coming in and nothing else. We have also started to shut all our customer interaction areas like cafes and deli counters and redeploying onto the shop floor to get what basics out we have. Choices will be limited for a while, and that’s guaranteed.
Ultimately, it’s bread, milk and other provisions which are substantially more important than a joint of lamb or a salmon fillet.
I can’t underestimate how challenging the last week or so has been in store, and the majority of people are very understanding. Any gripes from customers moaning about having counters closed are quite frankly discourteous to the efforts we are putting in.
Bantamzen
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Or maybe, vegans aren't generally the kind of people who irrationally panic-buy everything
Or perhaps some of the "vegans", by which I mean those converting for social rather than ideological reasons have converted back for the duration...
Or perhaps some of the "vegans", by which I mean those converting for social rather than ideological reasons have converted back for the duration...
Or maybe there just weren't that many of them in the first place.....
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