Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

[Howardh]

Interested to see all the frozen vegan mince gone from my local Asda today, and the Quorn cabinet with very little left. Has the crisis turned people veg/gie/an? The decent vegan pizzas sold out, too, though the grim falafel ones and the rank own- brand hoummous ones still plentiful.People may be panicking but still have taste.

Just had one of those uber-cheap pizzas from Lidl, the one which is cheese and tomato on cardboard. Not bad topped off with salad and boiled potatoes though.

 

[krus_aragon]

What time's the Fanny Craddock show on?

Did she work with bags of oddments brought in by members of the studio audience? That's where I suspect Ready Steady Cook might be extra helpful.

I remember one chef being floored by someone who had a Mars Bar, but then proceeded to separate the chocolate, nougat and caramel for use in separate dishes.

 

[ASharpe]

I was in Aldi earlier and there were a pile of single bananas by the cashier at the checkout. Anyone who picked up a bunch bigger than 4 had the extras removed. But the cashier was keenly telling customers that you could buy four of the bags of bananas.

I get that in a big organisation it's sensible to have a single rule that covers all situations wherever possible (it improves staff compliance and reduces confrontations with customers) but sometimes a bit of common sense is needed and a bunch of bananas is clearly one item.

 

[tsr]

I went back to The Big Tesco earlier. I’ve only seen shelves that empty when I’ve watched the news about some hurricane about to hit North America and they show the inside of a supermarket.

You could get quite a lot of pre-packed bakery goods (some of which would be genuinely quite good for a stash in the freezer or even, in some cases, just the bread bin) but not much else. The car park was bonkers but the rest of the roads were half-empty.

The funniest thing was the way you could tell the probable staple diets of the local customers by the drinks which were left. Plenty of smoothies but no Coke, Fanta, Sprite or similar. Someone’s even made a dent in the Easter eggs now (pun intentional).

Meanwhile, the local small Co-op is fine. Not all types of pasta or frozen goods in stock, but enough to survive for weeks on end with endless variety, especially with sauces and spreads. Must have had about 15 types of pasta sauce, more curry ingredients than you could ever reasonably choose from, and any amount of things you could spread on toast...

 

[GusB]

My local Aldi had signs at the tills about the four item limit, and I did see one customer having items removed from the conveyor the next checkout. The store was busy, but fairly calm.

There was very little breakfast cereal, no pasta and pasta sauces were fairly sparse. There was some long grain rice, but no basmati, which I was out of. There was an abundance of fresh fruit and veg (yeah, Scotland - I know) but very little meat. I was able to buy bacon and sausages, but no black pudding.

There was no cheddar cheese!! I ended up with Red Leicester, but fortunately my local convenience store has cheddar on offer. I didn't bother looking for bog roll having purchased locally a few days ago.

It honestly felt like the run up to Christmas.

 

[Howardh]

There was an abundance of fresh fruit and veg (yeah, Scotland - I know)

Tell them they can deep-fry pears.

 

[Belperpete]

There is presumably a dividing line between 'stocking up' and 'panic buying'.
Then there's 'stocking up, but lets get an extra one just in case' (triggered by seeing panic buying)

Hundreds of people buying "just one extra" will empty the shelves almost as quickly as a few people panic buying.

I live in a holiday area, and my local Tesco struggles at the start of every holiday season as the number of shoppers ramps up. The trouble is that supermarkets do not have large stockrooms full of goods waiting to go out. They order the goods as they are sold, so even a small ramp in demand will rapidly empty the shelves. This is the problem with "just in time" ordering - it works OK only as long as demand is fairly constant.

 

[bramling]

Hundreds of people buying "just one extra" will empty the shelves almost as quickly as a few people panic buying.

I live in a holiday area, and my local Tesco struggles at the start of every holiday season as the number of shoppers ramps up. The trouble is that supermarkets do not have large stockrooms full of goods waiting to go out. They order the goods as they are sold, so even a small ramp in demand will rapidly empty the shelves. This is the problem with "just in time" ordering - it works OK only as long as demand is fairly constant.

Lots of people buying one extra shouldn’t be causing a massive problem though - yes it may empty the shelves faster, but the supply is still being fairly well spread around. The problem clearly started with some people hoarding large amounts of specific items - I saw it last week with a family emerging from Tesco’s with at least 10 packs of toilet roll.

Clearly since Friday there’s been an explosion in demand for everything, which seems to be a reaction to the increasing alarm associated with the whole thing. No doubt the pictures of empty shelves will have fed that to some extent.

 

[trainophile]

If only the media hadn't kept on about it, it's become like a national sport now.

 

[Ianno87]

Lots of people buying one extra shouldn’t be causing a massive problem though - yes it may empty the shelves faster, but the supply is still being fairly well spread around. The problem clearly started with some people hoarding large amounts of specific items - I saw it last week with a family emerging from Tesco’s with at least 10 packs of toilet roll.

It's not just "one extra" though.

It's people who would've bought zero now buying one or two.
People who would've bought one, buying two or three. Etc.

Doesn't seem like much per person but it really adds up very quickly across the thousands of people visiting a supermarket each day.

Remembering the supermarkets are designed to keep warehouse stock to a minimum. Head through the flappy doors and it's not *that* big behind the scenes.

 

[mmh]

If only the media hadn't kept on about it, it's become like a national sport now.

Absolutely. Lots of it has been fuelled by irresponsible reporting to my mind, which is amplified these days compared to mass panics in days gone by by the widespread use of the internet and social media.

I'm an avid listener of speech radio, but unfortunately I find the two major non-Radio 4 UK stations, LBC and Talk Radio, increasingly unlistenable. I understand they have to cover it, but not 24/7 to the total exclusion of anything else.

Interestingly I've found the two New York City stations I occasionally listen to have a far less hysterical tone. (One is politically neutral to liberal, the other staunchly Republican and pro-Trump.)

I don't see how we can easily turn back from the panic buying state at the stage we've got to, sadly.

 

[Bald Rick]

It's not just "one extra" though.

It's people who would've bought zero now buying one or two.
People who would've bought one, buying two or three. Etc.

Doesn't seem like much per person but it really adds up very quickly across the thousands of people visiting a supermarket each day.

Remembering the supermarkets are designed to keep warehouse stock to a minimum. Head through the flappy doors and it's not *that* big behind the scenes.

Spot on. Our big Sainsbury’s has run out of Marmite. That’s not the sort of thing you stockpile, I guess most families would struggle to get through more than a big jar a fortnight. But a big supermarket may only hold stock of about 40 big jars, and a hundred or so smaller jars. Even if only 1 in 2 Marmite shoppers gets a spare jar ‘just in case’ when they are doing a normal shop, the store would be out of stock within a couple of hours; next delivery tomorrow...

 

[cactustwirly]

I went back to The Big Tesco earlier. I’ve only seen shelves that empty when I’ve watched the news about some hurricane about to hit North America and they show the inside of a supermarket.

You could get quite a lot of pre-packed bakery goods (some of which would be genuinely quite good for a stash in the freezer or even, in some cases, just the bread bin) but not much else. The car park was bonkers but the rest of the roads were half-empty.

The funniest thing was the way you could tell the probable staple diets of the local customers by the drinks which were left. Plenty of smoothies but no Coke, Fanta, Sprite or similar. Someone’s even made a dent in the Easter eggs now (pun intentional).

Meanwhile, the local small Co-op is fine. Not all types of pasta or frozen goods in stock, but enough to survive for weeks on end with endless variety, especially with sauces and spreads. Must have had about 15 types of pasta sauce, more curry ingredients than you could ever reasonably choose from, and any amount of things you could spread on toast...

My local convenience store had run out of pasta this evening.

 

[Howardh]

My landlord's worked his way around Boris's Law. He's gonna put some desks in and turn the pub into a school.

Not sure I can still fit into my old blazer but I'll give it a go....

 

[Silver Cobra]

My local Tesco about half an hour ago:
Toilet roll
View attachment 75468
Bin bags and cleaning stuff
View attachment 75469
Tinned stuff (no beanz!) (deliberate mis-spelling)
View attachment 75470
One meat aisle
View attachment 75471

I needed pasta. The only stuff they had was two boxes of 500g packs tagliatelle.
There were plenty of 4-packs of apple juice, but none of orange juice, so I had to buy them individually (and there weren't that many left anyway).
Virtually all the own brand cereals were gone, including the one I wanted. Plenty of more expensive cereal left though.

That's pretty much how the supermarket I work at looked throughout this afternoon. We had some toilet rolls turn up with this afternoon's ambient delivery, lasting all but 5 minutes. Several of my colleagues commented how they've never seen the shop floor so empty of stock before, not even on the busiest of Christmas times.

 

[Tom B]

Could part of the shortage of "unusual" lines be that, because of the high turnover of eg bog roll, bleach, tins etc, the finite lorry space is being geared towards that sort of stuff?

 

[Busaholic]

Just had one of those uber-cheap pizzas from Lidl, the one which is cheese and tomato on cardboard. Not bad topped off with salad and boiled potatoes though.

I suspect it's the cardboard that improves the eating experience.

 

[PG]

I was at my local sub post office or whatever you call the ones in corners of small shops these days.

A lady was posting baby formula milk powder to her daughter as her daughter couldn't find any on sale near her for her own child. It seems, sadly, that some people are stockpiling said baby formula not because they have a hungry infant to cater for but because its shelf life is over a year so they'll be alright for milk in their tea/coffee while mothers will be struggling to get supplies for their children!

 

[Belperpete]

It seems, sadly, that some people are stockpiling said baby formula not because they have a hungry infant to cater for but because its shelf life is over a year so they'll be alright for milk in their tea/coffee while mothers will be struggling to get supplies for their children!

There may be a few people stockpiling for their own use, but the major problem is more likely all the other mothers "just buying one more" to be safe.

 

[PG]

There may be a few people stockpiling for their own use, but the major problem is more likely all the other mothers "just buying one more" to be safe.

In a way this "I'll just buy an extra one" which is leading to shortages is similar to the way people don't see their car journey being the cause of congestion as it is everyone else's fault that they are stuck in traffic...

 

[Ianno87]

There may be a few people stockpiling for their own use, but the major problem is more likely all the other mothers "just buying one more" to be safe.

Fathers are allowed to buy baby formula too, FYI.

 

[DelayRepay]

I think Quorn might be selling because it tends to have longer use-by dates than the equivalent meat product.

I tried to book an online shop. The earliest date is three weeks away (4th April) with Morrisons. Sainsburys have no slots at all.

Who knows what things will look like by 4th April?

 

[trainophile]

I was outside our local small Co-op when it opened at 07:00 this morning, and was told no loo rolls until Thursday. Not a major problem for us yet, but if we have to stay indoors for three months things will get interesting!

Managed to get some basics, but the shelves were rapidly depleting and there's only so much we could carry, plus we don't want to be selfish as I imagine the place will be bare by midday.

 

[DerekC]

As we are in the "stay indoors for the next three months" category we tried to book a home delivery slot (maybe a bit late!). Tesco and Sainsbury are fully booked for the whole 3- week time window and Waitrose's website is down. Hmm - need to do some thinking! There is a good farm shop not too far away - maybe a trip to the local outdoor market as well.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Pah, no marmite !??? A national disgrace !

Molasses is a reasonable substitute (to drink)

Got my wine delivery yesterday so will just have to make it last a bit longer

 

[Howardh]

As we are in the "stay indoors for the next three months" category we tried to book a home delivery slot (maybe a bit late!). Tesco and Sainsbury are fully booked for the whole 3- week time window and Waitrose's website is down. Hmm - need to do some thinking! There is a good farm shop not too far away - maybe a trip to the local outdoor market as well.

Anyone elderly relying on home deliveries has a problem then. I think (here in Bolton) they have disbanded the meals-on-wheels service due to cuts.

 

[Howardh]

Pah, no marmite !??? A national disgrace !

Molasses is a reasonable substitute (to drink)

Got my wine delivery yesterday so will just have to make it last a bit longer

Priorities correct that man.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Dropped son off at Hemel Hempsted for the train this am and called in at the mega Tesco as we needed a few basic top ups.

Was fine - bar no bog roll (what is this obsession - there will be "fire" sales downline !) , and a sensible limit of 2 items per customer on certain items. Certainly no major shortages and no stress at all with well managed and plentiful staff.

Despite rumours to the contrary (heard from neighbours) , no shortage of either beer or wine evident. People need to stop panicking....(and creating shortages) ......

 

[John Griffiths]

A small to medium Sainsbury 's this morning: no bog roll or tinned tomatoes, very little pasta ( no own brand), didn't notice meat but appeared to be plenty of frozen burgers etc; no flour. Few potatoes, and oddly (to my mind) quite a few vegetables missing such as courgette and leeks (and I wanted a leek) . The shop was quite busy but everywhere else on the High Street seemed very quiet.

 

[Senex]

And I went to the small local Tesco about ten this morning and found it generally well stocked — a good range of fresh produce and ready meals, a little low on fruit but fine on vegetables, even bog rolls (but no hand gel). Quite different from the stories of the larger places and the problems with home delivery services.