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Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

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Elwyn

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I must admit that I’ve been thinking about this too.
It’s easy to instantly judge people with trolleys that are stacked high as panic buying, but they may be shopping for a few family members or a care home etc and are actually doing the right thing...


There was a lady from the Grocer magazine on the radio over the weekend who said that £1 billion’s worth of food had been bought in the past few days which is the equivalent of 2 Christmases. Some people are definitely hoarding food, but as you say it’s not possible to judge which, from a simple glance at a trolley.
 
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Peter Kelford

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I am sure people are putting a huge amount of thought and effort in how to "deal with" this problem.
Yes, I'm sure it must be the work of the century for the IT people, it only takes 1 week to not arrive at a basic server upgrade.
I still maintain the best thing supermarkets can do, with the help of government if necessary, is sort out the problems being encountered by people unable to book a home delivery slot. Deals with several problems and reduces risk all round.
Unfortunately, this is what Waitrose's website has shown for quite a while now.
Capture d'écran 2020-03-23 06.41.23.png
Sainsbury's suggests that all slots for the next 2 weeks are taken.
 

yorkie

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Yes, I'm sure it must be the work of the century for the IT people, it only takes 1 week to not arrive at a basic server upgrade.
How will a "server upgrade" identify who is in need of delivery slots the most, or increase the number of deliveries that can be made?
 

notlob.divad

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I can't see how restricting the number of people in the store is going to be a foolproof way of preventing the virus spreading.
You don't need foolproof. Nothing is foolproof. It is the same as the government saying they where not going to check temperatures at Airports / major transport hubs, because it is not guarenteed to stop the spread. It is a really bad position to be in. it should be treated like all safety measures, no safety measures is perfect, but the more layers you have in place, the less chance the holes align and the dangerous outcome occurs.
 

SHD

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There was a lady from the Grocer magazine on the radio over the weekend who said that £1 billion’s worth of food had been bought in the past few days which is the equivalent of 2 Christmases. Some people are definitely hoarding food, but as you say it’s not possible to judge which, from a simple glance at a trolley.

Indeed, there has been a massive stock transfer from warehouses to customers' cupboards.
 

nlogax

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Yes, I'm sure it must be the work of the century for the IT people, it only takes 1 week to not arrive at a basic server upgrade.

Unless I'm missing something from your comment, it seems to me that you fundamentally misunderstand what's involved here from an IT perspective, let alone the supporting processes for adapting to this sort of demand.
 

Roast Veg

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Indeed, as a professional in the web services sector, it's not even remotely so simple. Even a server migration can be a nightmare for our infrastructure team, and that before any actual paid work to improve the client side of things...
 

AM9

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Indeed, there has been a massive stock transfer from warehouses to customers' cupboards.
Well £1bn is less than £16 per head, less than 2 weeks normal shopping. The real problem is the obsession that some shoppers have for certain items and the way that it only takes a whisper on the gutter social media platforms to set the panickers onto the next thing. Round here things are getting a bit more sane, although Waitrose have limited their ranges in some things.
Today I noticed that there were about 5 black John Lewis vans in the car park, - maybe to boost the delivery service. There have been plenty of JL staff training in store over the last couple of weeks, and they seem to be mainly up to speed now. Waitrose are in a far better place than the other main supermarkets who are saying that they need to take on up 30000 new staff. That has a far higher cost and risk than moving help over from JL stores within the greater organisation.
 

edwin_m

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Today I noticed that there were about 5 black John Lewis vans in the car park, - maybe to boost the delivery service. There have been plenty of JL staff training in store over the last couple of weeks, and they seem to be mainly up to speed now. Waitrose are in a far better place than the other main supermarkets who are saying that they need to take on up 30000 new staff. That has a far higher cost and risk than moving help over from JL stores within the greater organisation.
In case anyone doesn't know, JL have shut down and transferred their staff to help out at Waitrose (according to their customer email). Not sure how much use an unrefrigerated van would be though, even for local deliveries which Waitrose probably doesn't have many of, and a black one would be worst on these sunny days!
 

Baxenden Bank

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In case anyone doesn't know, JL have shut down and transferred their staff to help out at Waitrose (according to their customer email). Not sure how much use an unrefrigerated van would be though, even for local deliveries which Waitrose probably doesn't have many of, and a black one would be worst on these sunny days!
Basic food packages for the 1.5m. Bread, fresh fruit and vegetables, tinned foods, dried foods, perhaps even dairy. I'm not an environmental health person, but refrigerated can be safe for a certain amount of time. I go walking so my sandwiches are out of the fridge for a few hours before I eat them. The world managed before refrigeration and chilled meals.
 

DarloRich

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Morrisons in MK today was much more sensible. Meat had taken a hit but there was veg and a little diary. Still very few tins, little pasta and rice and no soap.
 

nlogax

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Morrisons in MK today was much more sensible. Meat had taken a hit but there was veg and a little diary. Still very few tins, little pasta and rice and no soap.

Echoes my experiences and those of friends.. things are slowly returning to normal in terms of stock and a slight recession of the panic-buying madness from recent weeks as people stay home.
 

Baxenden Bank

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Morrisons in MK today was much more sensible. Meat had taken a hit but there was veg and a little diary. Still very few tins, little pasta and rice and no soap.
Same at Tesco near me. Fairly quiet in store at 1100, certainly no more queuing than normal at the tills. Some re-supply is clearly happening as things that were missing last week have reappeared - except toilet roll, kitchen towel and paracetamol. Lots of empty space but certainly you could get enough food to keep you going, if not your preferred brand and size.

What is it with milk. The cows cannot step up production through overtime so supply should be the same as normal. Where is it going? A limit of one per customer - be that a two-pinter or six.

Interestingly, there was cooked meat from the delicatessen counter in the reduced section. The deli has been closed for days. I wondered what they had done with the stock.
 

Darandio

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Same at Tesco near me. Fairly quiet in store at 1100, certainly no more queuing than normal at the tills. Some re-supply is clearly happening as things that were missing last week have reappeared - except toilet roll, kitchen towel and paracetamol. Lots of empty space but certainly you could get enough food to keep you going, if not your preferred brand and size.

What is it with milk. The cows cannot step up production through overtime so supply should be the same as normal. Where is it going? A limit of one per customer - be that a two-pinter or six.

Interestingly, there was cooked meat from the delicatessen counter in the reduced section. The deli has been closed for days. I wondered what they had done with the stock.

My local Asda had two packets of toilet roll this morning so I grabbed one as we were down to our last roll. They had a good stock of milk as well, although that was an improvement on previous days. Apparently everyone is freezing milk, it's not something that i've ever thought about doing or would be likely to do. o_O
 

Baxenden Bank

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My local Asda had two packets of toilet roll this morning so I grabbed one as we were down to our last roll. They had a good stock of milk as well, although that was an improvement on previous days. Apparently everyone is freezing milk, it's not something that i've ever thought about doing or would be likely to do. o_O
It's fine. It does look a bit strange and yellow when frozen. Just give it a shake when defrosted. The only problem is that, in a fridge kept at the correct temperature, it takes forever to defrost. I have to get the next one out of the freezer when I start a new pint, so about three days.
 

AndrewE

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I have heard that a bog roll fresh out of the freezer is very soothing...
 

trainophile

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Morrisons in MK today was much more sensible. Meat had taken a hit but there was veg and a little diary. Still very few tins, little pasta and rice and no soap.

To record how you fill your locked in days? (Sorry, thought we could do with a little humour :oops: :lol: ).

The problem with freezing milk is unless your freezer is a huge chest type you have to lay the milk on its side, and when you then transfer it from freezer into the fridge it won't stand up! The bottom seems to develop a bulge for some reason.

(^Plenty of scope for more innuendo there if anyone feels so inclined!)
 

DarloRich

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To record how you fill your locked in days?

those sort of words are really difficult for me. Same with from/form! Just cant see them.

Apparently everyone is freezing milk, it's not something that i've ever thought about doing or would be likely to do

My Gran always did it. The filtered milk, especially skimmed, lasts for ever
 

AndrewE

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Aaaaand I think that's my cue to remind everyone that this is a family friendly Forum ;):lol:;)
I'm sure that the kids will be equally grateful for soothing chilled bogroll, and I'm sure they will enjoy a joke about bulging bottoms too!
 

trainophile

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Interestingly morrisons had erected some kind of safety shield around the till to protect the worker.

Takes more than that to offend me!

Phew that's good. And if I may say so I am with you 100% on your views about how we must tackle this thing together and all stay indoors, whether or not we are forced to.
 

Bletchleyite

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The problem with freezing milk is unless your freezer is a huge chest type you have to lay the milk on its side, and when you then transfer it from freezer into the fridge it won't stand up! The bottom seems to develop a bulge for some reason.

I defrost it in the sink, if you put it in the fridge it takes days.
 

hexagon789

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And when you think it's okay and take the lid off to pour some in your tea and get a lump of ice... o_O

Milk icecubes! :lol: To be honest, I reckon that would be perfect to take the heat out of a mug of piping hot coffee, so I'm sure it's a bad thing! ;)
 

Catracho

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Interesting to hear about the situation in the UK. Went to my local supermarket this morning here in Germany (Netto discount, comparable to Aldi or Lidl) expecting the worst, but it looked the same way it has for the last few weeks. A few select products continue to be unavailable or are in short supply: toilet paper/wipes/etc., pasta, flour and yeast, soap and sanitizer, tinned food (MRE only though, no shortage of tinned vegetables or fruit). Then there are products where the low priced stuff is sold out but the more expensive alternatives are still available, like rice and bottled mineral water. Everything else, however, was on the shelves in abundance: fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, dairy products, meat, bread.....

Stay healthy and keep your spirits up!
 
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Grumpy Git

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People have most definitely been hoarding skimmed milk (to freeze) as I have not seen any for at least a week in the supermarket.

There must be some dumb folk around that have absolutely no idea how/why/where milk is produced?
 

GusB

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When I heard about Boris's announcement, I thought it prudent to take a walk to my local shop to pick up a few essentials (sugar, milk and beer since I no longer have the option to go to the pub). I wouldn't expect to find the milk fridge completely full late in the day, but all they had left were a few 2 pint bottles. Unusually there was no bread left either, but fortunately I was able to buy a loaf yesterday.

It felt quite eerie when I walked in. Strips of tape had been placed across the aisles at two-metre intervals, and a large box was marked out with yellow and black warning tape in front of the counter. Presumably this was to demarcate a safe distance from the person behind the counter, but it was utterly pointless as I had to walk into the square to place my goods on the counter for scanning and bagging. As I stepped forward the blue-gloved assistant looked genuinely quite jumpy, and seemed quite relieved that I opted to pay by contactless.

It was very strange seeing the pubs in darkness at that time of day - almost reminiscent of boxing day and new year's day, and there were definitely fewer people out and about.
 
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