Coronavirus virus fears causing panic buying

[Mojo]

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.

I agree, have been regularly buying Vegan mince from Sainsburys (£1.75 for 500g) and whilst you can taste the subtle difference in chilli and bolognese, it isn't necessarily in a bad way.

The cost of it is only marginally more than normal mince (£1.50 in Aldi/Lidl/Morrisons or £1.65 in Sainsburys).

 

[Elwyn]

This picture's been doing the rounds, I found it quite amusing...


Even in a disaster no one wants the vegan food

The picture is definitely amusing. However if you google about you’ll find it’s misleading. The photo was reportedly taken in 2018 in a supermarket in Houston, Texas. There had been a power cut following a hurricane. All the fresh chilled food had been thrown out as unsafe. Hence the empty shelves. However the vegan food is hermetically sealed and therefore unaffected by the loss of power. So it was left on the shelves. According to one report, apparently a lot of vegan products remain edible for months. Discuss, as they say!

 

[Darandio]

The picture is definitely amusing. However if you google about you’ll find it’s misleading. The photo was reportedly taken in 2018 in a supermarket in Houston, Texas. There had been a power cut following a hurricane. All the fresh chilled food had been thrown out as unsafe. Hence the empty shelves. However the vegan food is hermetically sealed and therefore unaffected by the loss of power. So it was left on the shelves. According to one report, apparently a lot of vegan products remain edible for months. Discuss, as they say!

2018 that might have been. I've seen it repeatedly this week.

 

[trainophile]

I bought a vegan "block" (mock cheese) once and it was awful. I thought I would use it up by melting it on toast, but it doesn't melt, just lies there in unappealing lumps that taste of nothing.

 

[Vespa]

I personally think its a load of fannel hyped up by the news media and expanded by social media for what is essentially a really bad cold.

The greatest damage is not caused by Coronavirus, but by hysterical lemming type behavior by gullible sheeps.

I'm bemused by all the panic buying and empty shelves, the demand is outstripping supply that's why themselves are empty, which any day of the week would be fully stocked anyway...people need to get a grip on reality.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I personally think its a load of Daniel hyped by the news media and expanded by social media for what is essentially a really bad cold.

For about 80% of people. For the other 20%, that's twelve million people in the UK, it's rather serious.

I'm not worried about getting it, I'd rather like to to get it out of the way TBH. But we all need to put the effort in to avoid spreading it so the NHS is overwhelmed.

I'm bemused by all the panic buying and empty shelves, the demand is outstripping supply that's why themselves are empty, which any day of the week would be fully stocked anyway...people need to get a grip on reality.

Yes, this is beyond imbecilic, in none of the fully locked down countries have food shops closed.

 

[GB]

I personally think its a load of fannel hyped up by the news media and expanded by social media for what is essentially a really bad cold.

The various qualified and highly trained professionals in all the affected countries would tend to dispute that.

 

[Bantamzen]

For about 80% of people. For the other 20%, that's twelve million people in the UK, it's rather serious.

I'm not worried about getting it, I'd rather like to to get it out of the way TBH. But we all need to put the effort in to avoid spreading it so the NHS is overwhelmed.



Yes, this is beyond imbecilic, in none of the fully locked down countries have food shops closed.

That assumes a 100% infection rate. No country is even remotely near that figure.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That assumes a 100% infection rate. No country is even remotely near that figure.

If we carried on as we were prior to last week we would get to 80%, I believe. Pretty sure that was Imperial College's projection.

 

[Aictos]

Went to my local Lidl today and they have put in restrictions to the amount of items you can buy eg one pack of female sanity products, two Radox bath products etc

No info on the doors but staff on the tills actively removing items they consider to be over the limit.

 

[Mojo]

I was at Wilkinsons earlier in the week and people were asking the checkout staff to allow them to buy multiples of antibacterial wipes, which they were limiting to two. In the time I was in the queue I heard a variety of strategies, from one man who claimed he could barley speak English and said he had a large family, to a local woman who took two up to the checkout and asked the guy if he could scan each one twice and she would "just pick up the extras on the way out." Unsurprisingly neither strategy worked, but it was interesting to hear people thinking they were exempt from this. FWIW there were plenty of cloths, sponges and cleaning potions still on the shelves which would have offered many more cleaning opportunities than four packets of antibacterial wipes, not to mention being cheaper and using less unrecylable plastic.

 

[Bletchleyite]

People are just utterly thick. Antibacterial wipes will do nothing. There's a clue in the name.

I bet they're the same ones who go to the doc's with a cold and ask for antibiotics and get cross when told to get lost.

 

[Leo1961]

Went to my local Lidl today and they have put in restrictions to the amount of items you can buy eg one pack of female sanity products, two Radox bath products etc

No info on the doors but staff on the tills actively removing items they consider to be over the limit.

What a great typo! Good luck with the incoming...

 

[Strat-tastic]

Some folk are so daft they're panic buying TV guides

 

[Bantamzen]

If we carried on as we were prior to last week we would get to 80%, I believe. Pretty sure that was Imperial College's projection.

I imagine that would be the worst case scenario based on the data at the time, much of which would not have been in this country. But given its a continually changing picture, both in how governments respond, and the health / demographics of each population, so banding around figures like 12M being seriously ill is probably left to the red tops. I do really wish people wouldn't try to over sensationalise this situation, its serious but we are not going to see WWII like images, with bodies strewn around the streets the way some in the media seem to want to portray. I can't help feeling some times that some people are actually rather quietly enjoying the drama.

And while I'm at it I wish the politicians would stop with the war-like rhetoric, we are not at war with covid-19, because if we were we would lose just in the same way we would lose the war on it's cousin the common cold.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Fair points there, though I think it needs uptalking to get some people to take it seriously.

But I think the general point that needs making is:-
1. You are probably not going to die of it.
2. But if you go out and spread it, you may kill others. We'd really rather you didn't just so you can have a pint.

 

[MotorcycleAlan]

Some folk are so daft they're panic buying TV guides

Well, if there is no loo roll available, and the Daily Mail is sold out......

 

[Bald Rick]

Whilst no doubt there are still people panic buying / ‘stocking up’, I think those who were predisposed to do that have done it. The issue now is that with well over half the workforce now working at home, all the food (and dare I say toilet roll) that would have been consumed at work is now being consumed at home, and therefore bought in the supermarket near home rather than a supermarket / shop / cafe / sandwich shop near work.

This might explain why the shelves were full in a couple of M&S food stores in London earlier this week, to the extent that lots of fresh stock was reduced as it was close to sell by dates.

It will take a little time for supermarkets to adjust their logistics accordingly, and more item yet for food manufacturers to switch production from ‘catering pack’ scale for the retail catering industry to domestic retail scale. This may be easier for Tesco, as they own Bookers, one of the larger catering industry distributors.

It’s no coincidence that in the carnage on the stock market, Sainsbury’s share price is up 20% in a week!

 

[Aictos]

What a great typo! Good luck with the incoming...

I sometimes struggle with spelling, I'm sure people know what it was meant to be.

 

[Mag_seven]

Just a reminder this thread is to discuss the specific issue of Panic Buying as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. I've had to move some posts that were discussing general Coronavirus issues to the general Coronavirus thread.

Thanks.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

It’s no coincidence that in the carnage on the stock market, Sainsbury’s share price is up 20% in a week!

As my father used to say "It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good". Always some beneficiaries. Once the supply chains stabilize and the panic buying settles down I am sure the share price will too. On a separate not my maternal grandfather was a big stocks and shares man and he often used to say to me "shares in food related companies are always good - people are always going to have to eat".

 

[Momo and diggy]

Been to the local Tesco today they are limiting you to buy 3 items of each product. saw a guy with a huge trolley load consisting of 3 items of everything he could get hold of

 

[Howardh]

Been to the local Tesco today they are limiting you to buy 3 items of each product. saw a guy with a huge trolley load consisting of 3 items of everything he could get hold of

Good job they don't do that at Lidl, I NEED four pneumatic drills.

 

[superjohn]

I spent a little while watching the tills at a large Tesco this afternoon. It would appear they had some toilet rolls in stock as nine out of ten customers were clutching their allowance. I suspect it has gone beyond the selfish hoarders now. People are so used to empty toilet roll shelves that they will grab some of they if they see them there, regardless of need. I was tempted but sense prevailed, I am not even halfway into a 24 pack at home and that is several months worth for me.

A security guard was enforcing the rules at the self service tills. The police had to be called when one guy kicked off about the restrictions and started attacking the tills. Apparently Tesco are racists because they are denying him his right to properly provide for his family! The matter was taken outside when the police arrived so I don’t know how it ended up.

OT: I observed all this while waiting to get my hair cut at the convenient barbers that have popped up in some of their giant stores. They are in the place previously occupied by a travel agent and seen one of the better Tesco ideas.
(https://www.gouldbarbers.co.uk/)

 

[Momo and diggy]

Didn't wait to see whether he went back for 3 televisions!

 

[Darandio]

People panic buy, this is what you end up with. Communication error my arse.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-51962556

A pharmacy which priced bottles of Calpol at £19.99 has been criticised for the "extortionate" move.

A branch of West Midlands-based chain Jhoots had 200ml bottles of the liquid paracetamol advertised at about three times its usual price.

Birmingham councillor Majid Mahmood said people from his Hodge Hill ward had phoned him "in tears" to complain.

Blaming a communication error, Jhoots said it would refund customers and ensure no repeat of the error.

Mr Mahmood posted a photo of the pharmacy shelves on Twitter, which also showed smaller 100ml bottles priced at £9.99.

He also claimed the same shop had been offering a 32-pack of paracetamol at £1.39 a week ago, but was now asking £9.99 for the item.

Jhoots, based in Walsall, said in a statement "disparities" in some branches had stemmed from "an erroneous communication" and it had since taken steps to correct prices.

Pharmacists have warned that wholesale paracetamol prices have gone up amid the coronavirus crisis.
"Business is business, they have to make a profit," Mr Mahmood said.

"But firms shouldn't be charging extortionate pricing when you know people are desperate in a national crisis.

"When you've got people crying down the phone because they can't afford Calpol - that's wrong."

In a statement posted on Twitter, Jhoots said: "We have acted immediately and conducted a thorough investigation into this matter and have found that following an erroneous communication, price increases were made at branch level.

"In order to rectify the issue we will make full refunds to our customers affected by this and have taken all appropriate action to ensure that this does not happen again."

Government watchdog the Competitions and Markets Authority said it was receiving "an extremely high number of calls" about inflated pricing during the Covid-19 outbreak.

A Birmingham City Council spokeswoman said its trading standards department could take action over "dual-pricing".

She said traders could charge "what they want" for items without a price mark, but it was a criminal offence to charge more for pre-priced products.

 

[Momo and diggy]

On a lighter note watched bargain hunt on the tv today and one couple bought a can of beans a packet of 4 loo rolls and a packet of pasta. Made £100 profit at the auction!

 

[Ianno87]

People panic buy, this is what you end up with. Communication error my arse.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-51962556

The shop is called "Jhoots". Subtle.

 

[superjohn]

People panic buy, this is what you end up with. Communication error my arse

Isn’t that what WH Smith claimed when they were caught selling toothpaste for £8 at multiple hospitals a while back?

Based on my earlier observations, the supermarkets are getting considerable extra sales from the random ‘extra stuff’ people are picking up to make it look like they aren’t just buying toilet roll!

 

[Enthusiast]

2. But if you go out and spread it, you may kill others. We'd really rather you didn't just so you can have a pint.

I spent an hour today queuing to buy two bits of fish, a packet of dry roasted, a tub of Bertolli and two pints of milk. During that time I was jostled (not maliciously - there was just no room as the queues filled the shopping aisles), brushed against and generally had my space invaded (again, not maliciously). I will be doing something similar on Monday for some more supplies and, assuming the idiots still abound, will suffer the same fate. There was far, far more chance of me giving or receiving a virus during that time than there ever will be when Mrs E and I go to the pub on Sunday night (if it's not been closed by order) for a pie and a pint (or more probably two steaks and a bottle of wine). We'll be sitting in a booth, a good six feet from the nearest customer (it's never busy on a Sunday) and will not "socially engage" with anybody else. If I didn't eat that meal out I would have to be up close and personal with far more people when buying the ingredients to cook it, so in fact I'm cutting down my risk of being infected or infecting someone else. When they come up with a way for me to get supplies without going out (there are no delivery slots with any of the suppliers for the next three weeks) or to control the sheer lunacy evident in supermarkets, I'll consider curtailing my activities in other areas.

Whilst no doubt there are still people panic buying / ‘stocking up’, I think those who were predisposed to do that have done it.

Not round here they haven't. I saw "shopping" today the likes of which I've never seen. There was no method to much of the madness. If it was on the shelves, in the fridge or the freezer it was taken, sometimes without even looking what it was. I heard one woman say to her friend (discussing the kitchen rolls she had in her trolley) "I've got plenty - in fact I'm running out of space to store them - but I thought since they'd got some...."

saw a guy with a huge trolley load consisting of 3 items of everything he could get hold of

See above. I'm assuming that soon they will either run out of money or run out of space to store their stuff whilst watching it quietly go off.