deltic
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As others have mentioned while the supermarkets have been stripped bare our local corner shop had most of the basics apart from pasta and rice.
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Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying
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I have to agree. I don't think the panic buying will stop because lots of people think, perhaps reasonably, that the supply chain will break down as people in those roles either get ill or simply feel that they have to stop work.
I think there is a pretty good chance that those who have panic bought / stocked up go back for more, perhaps even to the extent that some of it will ultimately end up in the bin. Your comment about someone buying more kitchen rolls applies equally to all sorts of food.
See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51961624
At some point, I think it is pretty likely that wartime-style rationing will need to be introduced.
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R G NOW.
Member
When you think about all of this panic buying, I lay in bed last night thinking about, where are they getting the money from. They must be maxing out their credit cards and overdrawing their bank accounts surely. They will soon wish they had not overspent when the kids need new trainers. Those are not cheap these days, cos they usually want branded ones like nike.
Perhaps simply bought against the expectation that they will be able to sell it on once rationing is introduced.
I don't think its responsible of the BBC to have lines such as
People will read that and just panic buy more.
I totally agree.
To be fair, most antibacterial wipes (at least the ones they sell in Wilkinson) are effective against 99%+ of viruses as well as bacteria, and the marketing does make this clear.
telstarbox
Established Member
I doubt this. Food is a small proportion of most people's outgoings compared to historic prices, and most people are still in work and being paid.
R G NOW.
Member
YIPPI I have just managed to get a Sainsburys delivery for Saturday, I am over the moon at last. There were not many slots on there.
PG
Established Member
About time they (the kids) learnt that I want doesn't get! Not that that should be any reason to overspend on stockpiling.
Listening to Jeremy Vine today (which shows how 2 days working at home can screw you up, I NEVER listen to Radio 2), and he was speaking to one of the founders of LEON, the ‘naturally fast food company’. He said some interesting things:, which sort of confirmed what I wrote this morning.
Typically, there are 50 million meals a day bought outside the home in the U.K., roughly 25% of all meals across all age groups in the country.
Currently, there’s a small fraction of this.
There’s a lot of companies in the ‘eat out’ supply chain in immediate financial difficulty, from farms to manufacturers, through wholesalers and distributors to the shops cafes and restaurants.
These firms have plenty of spare capacity, but no demand, and food is being away.
Meanwhile the supermarkets are having to provide the equivalent of the 25% of meals themselves, ie supply an extra third over and above their normal capacity. This is before panic buying. They have the demand, but no spare capacity.
So what he is doing is using his existing supply chain and staff to temporarily turn his shops into selling restaurant quality ready meals, which you can either pick up or get delivered via Deliveroo etc. This will keep his supply chain alive (albeit on life support), and also be another place to buy food.
I genuinely hope he succeeds, and that others follow suit.
Typically, there are 50 million meals a day bought outside the home in the U.K., roughly 25% of all meals across all age groups in the country.
Currently, there’s a small fraction of this.
There’s a lot of companies in the ‘eat out’ supply chain in immediate financial difficulty, from farms to manufacturers, through wholesalers and distributors to the shops cafes and restaurants.
These firms have plenty of spare capacity, but no demand, and food is being away.
Meanwhile the supermarkets are having to provide the equivalent of the 25% of meals themselves, ie supply an extra third over and above their normal capacity. This is before panic buying. They have the demand, but no spare capacity.
So what he is doing is using his existing supply chain and staff to temporarily turn his shops into selling restaurant quality ready meals, which you can either pick up or get delivered via Deliveroo etc. This will keep his supply chain alive (albeit on life support), and also be another place to buy food.
I genuinely hope he succeeds, and that others follow suit.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Leon delivered? Yes, please - I'm a very big fan of theirs.
Not sure they’ll deliver to Bletchley. Is there a branch in MK?
krus_aragon
Established Member
If there is, it ought to be called Keynes of Leon.
krus_aragon
Established Member
Well, I did my own equivalent of panic buying last night, a new printer!
We've been using a b/w laser printer for years, because they're so much cheaper to run than an inkjet. Having had a brainstorm with family on homeschooling ideas for the summer term, I realised that lots of our ideas involve photographing something while out and about. Printing the odd colour image at work isn't going to be an option.
Conversing with a work colleague last week, he told me that he'd recently baulked at the price of a full set of inkjet refils, and found that a new colour laser printer was only ₤40 or so more expensive. So yesterday, I had a dig around and found one for ₤150, delivered.
(Laser printers are starting to use banks of LEDs on the drum these days rather than actual lasers and mirrors, which means they can be smaller and cheaper.)
We've been using a b/w laser printer for years, because they're so much cheaper to run than an inkjet. Having had a brainstorm with family on homeschooling ideas for the summer term, I realised that lots of our ideas involve photographing something while out and about. Printing the odd colour image at work isn't going to be an option.
Conversing with a work colleague last week, he told me that he'd recently baulked at the price of a full set of inkjet refils, and found that a new colour laser printer was only ₤40 or so more expensive. So yesterday, I had a dig around and found one for ₤150, delivered.
(Laser printers are starting to use banks of LEDs on the drum these days rather than actual lasers and mirrors, which means they can be smaller and cheaper.)
Baxenden Bank
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There are 8,769,122 over 70s in the UK.
It was suggested (though a government briefing to The Torygraph) that they would all have to stay at home for four months.
Tell me why there was such a rush on food stores last weekend and into this week!
8.7m x 3 meals x 120 days. Plus the non-food stuff of course.
It was suggested (though a government briefing to The Torygraph) that they would all have to stay at home for four months.
Tell me why there was such a rush on food stores last weekend and into this week!
8.7m x 3 meals x 120 days. Plus the non-food stuff of course.
C J Snarzell
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Reading about the situation in Italy & their supermarkets and shops are replenished as normal with people going out to buy provisions as and when they need them.
For some reason the UK is notorious for panic buying - the fuel crisis of 2000 saw normally respectable Brits resorting to appalling acts of selfishness to ensure their cars were topped up. Now we have equally selfish acts of people just buying food for the sake of buying food. Madness!
CJ
For some reason the UK is notorious for panic buying - the fuel crisis of 2000 saw normally respectable Brits resorting to appalling acts of selfishness to ensure their cars were topped up. Now we have equally selfish acts of people just buying food for the sake of buying food. Madness!
CJ
Bantamzen
Established Member
This is what has me nonplussed about all this. Going to pub, that's probably going to be a lot quieter with people spread fairly evenly around = bad. Going to supermarket with crowds jostling & fighting over loo roll = fine.
I believe the intention is to thin out numbers at pubs (etc) by encouraging people avoid them, and providing many people do avoid them, that then means the remaining people (who have made their choice based on their own circumstances e.g. being low risk etc) then have plenty of space to spread out, so it's not then actually a particular problem.
In an ideal world you'd want people to spread out more thinly in supermarkets too, but you probably can't really achieve that.
If there is, it ought to be called Keynes of Leon.
You’ve won the internet before 0600!
Bantamzen
Established Member
A couple of years ago my wife and I went to pick up a few last minute items on Christmas Eve at our local Morrisons. It took half an hour waiting outside to get a trolley, we had to literally fight our way past people queuing 2 deep up every isle, some with up to 3 trolleys each, and the best part of an hour actually queuing for the tills. The reason, the store would be shut for 2 whole days. Halfway through waiting a number of staff came around offering out chocolates to punters, although frankly I could have done with a couple of shots of whiskey at that point.
So if a two day supermarket closure creates panic, I'm really not surprised that this situation has people going stark, staring bonkers!
I hoping that's going to be the case today, as we are venturing out to try and do some shopping & if things are as bad as they have been, I'm going to need a stiff drink or three! I am not a happy shopper at the best of times, so my patience is likely to be stretched out today. I did look into delivery, but currently there are zero slots available for weeks. I'm hoping that a deal between Morrisons & Amazon is sorted soon (I saw on the local news the other day this was being discussed), so that more capacity can be thrown up & we can stock up from the comfort of my laptop!!
Baxenden Bank
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There were lots of announcements about 'distancing' at my local Tesco yesterday. Most people queuing at the tills took no notice.
Baxenden Bank
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So am I. Something will need to be sorted out if nearly 9m over 70's have to stay at home, and everyone is requested to stay at home except for essential journeys (which includes food shopping). Those relying on public transport will, very soon across vast swathes of the country, be unable to go out and get their groceries even if they wanted to.
Bantamzen
Established Member
Neither my wife or I drive, so a further lock-down without some provision to get our groceries would be a serious problem for us!
krus_aragon
Established Member
While stood in a Co-op yesterday, I heard a customer ask the checkout staff if the early-morning shopping for the elderly had worked there. Her response was no: people just came in at whatever time suited them, and wouldn't be told otherwise.
She also talked about an 82-year-old regular who'd come in that morning. They'd come to the tills with 24 bottles of wine, and wouldn't be dissuaded from buying them!
She also talked about an 82-year-old regular who'd come in that morning. They'd come to the tills with 24 bottles of wine, and wouldn't be dissuaded from buying them!
Bantamzen
Established Member
Sadly this doesn't surprise me any more. This virus has brought the very worst of this country out. When its all over I'll be thinking very hard about whether I want to stay here any more, or look to move to another country.
For anyone who is thinking of doing the same thing just be aware of cartridge capacity on the lower models, also some models have different maximum capacity cartridges for different models in their ranges, the con being is that the cartridges are no different in size or shape just the amount of toner inside. Compatible toner can be very cheap for what you get but I had a Xerox where compatible toner wouldn't stick properly, possibly due to the lower temperature toners it used.
Also look for cashback deals, I got £100 back on my brother all in one which (with a 10% eBay voucher) brought the price down to ~£150, and that was for a printer with WiFi, FAX, USB printing, apps, full duplexing both for the ADF on the scanner unit and for printing. Plus the supplied cartridges are 1,800 pages @ 5% coverage colour and 3,000 pages @ 5% coverage black, not too shabby. Plus with access to a hidden reset menu the ultra high capacity toner cartridges can be used and they have 9,000 page capacity! (probably helps that these toner cartridges are not chipped, but I believe use a mechanical system for detecting page counts)
NSEFAN
Established Member
A large queue forming outside the Aldi near my office. I wonder how many are panic buyers and how many are victims of earlier panic buying, now trying to get a bog roll!
Anti microbial is a better catch all term. There’s really no comparison between medical antibiotics and household cleaners. As I understand it most household detergent cleaners will be effective on surfaces at reducing contamination to safe levels, even water is better than nothing. Bleach is really good but not suitable for everywhere, as is anything with 70% alcohol. We’re talking about reducing risk not industrial sterility standards.
For your hands soap and water are fine, there’s no evidence products labelled as “antibacterial” are better. Hand sanitizers need 70% alcohol content, the ones without alcohol aren’t as effective and not recommended.
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