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How are your supermarkets looking at the moment?

100 replies

BearSoFair · 15/04/2020 16:01

Things had been a bit more normal here for the last couple of weeks but DH has just been to Asda and came back commenting that it looked like people had been in clearing the shelves again!

He couldn't get:
Hand soap (not that much of a surprise, that's always been scarce)
Washing up liquid
Bananas
Bell peppers
Courgettes
Broccolli or cauliflower
Chicken thighs
Lamb mince, fresh or frozen
Pizza, fresh or frozen
Semi skimmed milk (any brand or size)
Flour (again not too surprising)

and got the last box of Felix cat food!

OP posts:
EventRider1 · 15/04/2020 19:40

My Aldi has everything bar hand sanitizer.

SummerSazz · 15/04/2020 19:42

No flour, yeast or antibacterial wipes. Everything else ok

imamearcat · 15/04/2020 19:51

I went to Tesco last night, some of the fresh fruit was a bit sparse, there were no raspberries and just a few organic strawberries left. Everything else seemed pretty normal. Super market was very quiet.

We live in a rural area, so maybe a bit better here?

PerpetualCircle · 15/04/2020 19:59

I’ve found Homebargins to be a godsend for the basics, I think a lot of people don’t know they sell food, it’s the only shop where I can find eggs.

ifIwerenotanandroid · 15/04/2020 22:32

Is anyone else trying to get the ingredients for something to coincide? I'm trying to get everything together to make a Greek salad. It's a bit like one of those puzzles where you try to get all the ball bearings into their divots.

I had some leftover feta, cucumber & olive oil. Onions turned up today. If the pepper, etc arrives tomorrow I can just about do it, if I use mint jelly instead of fresh mint in the dressing. But if no red pepper, then the other things will have to be used up & all I'll have is some onions & elderly mint jelly. And so it goes.

Shopaholic100 · 16/04/2020 00:03

Went to Lidl this morning no queue and fully stocked with everything including plain and self raising flour. Tesco had the most organised shopping experience and were quite good in terms of stock, had everything except any type of flour and yeast. The queuing system kept moving as each person came out of the store and staff to give antibacterial wipes to wipe your trolley as you entered (was actually really impressed with them). Sainsbury’s I would probably avoid at the moment big queues to enter the store, they only let big groups to go in at once even though people are leaving the store, lots of unnecessary waiting and very little stock when you finally get in.

Definitely Lidl for stock and Tesco for shopping experience in my opinion.

fantasmasgoria1 · 16/04/2020 00:07

Aldi and tesco have been fairly well stocked. I don't bake so I don't know about yeast and flour. Plenty of fruit and vegetables etc.

Unihorn · 16/04/2020 00:09

Our big Tesco is always quiet as it's in a rougher part of town, Asda and Sainsbury's always have at least 30 minute queues. We have a small town centre with an Iceland and Farm Foods that are always easy to shop in and we'll stocked. The only thing I've been struggling with consistently is bananas. My husband is a keyworker and starts at 7am every morning and finishes between 6pm and 9pm, so we just have to make do with what we can get.

KatherineJaneway · 16/04/2020 05:24

I went to a Tesco Express and they did have a few boxes of eggs but it was early so I doubt they lasted long. No flour or yeast but most other things seemed in reasonable supply but I have pasta and tinned tomatoes so didn't check on them. They did have some cat food which I was grateful for as the last time I went to the larger Tesco the cat food shelves were almost bare.

VivaLeBeaver · 16/04/2020 06:39

Got my Ocado email with what’s missing in today’s order.

No Stilton (no sub)
No pieminister gluten free pie (subbed for a gluten pie)
No quorn gluten free pieces (subbed for gluten Waitrose brand)

None of the 3 different types of chocolate I ordered and no subs!!!

vanillandhoney · 16/04/2020 07:18

Absolutely fine here. No eggs in the supermarkets but we can get them delivered with the milk for an extra charge.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 16/04/2020 07:58

Aldi has everything.

Asda has everything apart from liquid soap and flour.

We have a Tesco as well but I don't tend to shop there as it's too expensive.

Arnoldthecat · 16/04/2020 08:01

Avoiding big supermarkets at the moment as they are the crucibles of infection..

VivaLeBeaver · 16/04/2020 08:45

I’ve just been to the co-op to get the cheese and chocolate missing from the Ocado order and no cheese or chocolate there either. This is getting serious!

PineappleDanish · 16/04/2020 08:48

Was in my local large Asda yesterday morning. Got everything on my list. Did notice though that there wasn't much cheap and cheerful liquid soap like Carex and Asda own brand, although there was lots of the more expensive stuff and loads of shower gel and bar soap.

No beef mince - but there were meatballs, and lots of turkey and lamb mince. No flour. Eggs, but only the smartprice ones and they were making announcements saying one pack per person.

Everything else was fine in terms of stock. The loo roll aisle was full, plenty of tins and packets, loads of pasta. And the wine aisle was well stocked too.

Umnoway · 16/04/2020 09:32

Struggled to get eggs for a couple of weeks and loo roll is still scarce as is pasta.

30not13 · 16/04/2020 09:37

Asda 6pm yesterday no salad items, huge gaps in yogurts and cheese.

frillyfarmer · 16/04/2020 09:37

As a farmer I think it's fairly galling that we are tipping away fresh milk due to oversupply after the closure of restaurants and hospitality and the supermarkets still haven't sorted their own supply issues meaning that there is no bloody milk on the shelves. Frankly it's disgusting - they should hang their heads.

Stellamboscha · 16/04/2020 09:45

I was was wondering about the eggs. Perhaps because everyone is now eating all their meals at home and eggs are easy to cook..?😀

purplecorkheart · 16/04/2020 09:47

I am avoiding the big supermarkets as the queues are meant to be nuts. Local small supermarket is quite well stocked although impossible to get yeast, baking powder and bread soda are both in short supply.

AuntieMarys · 16/04/2020 09:52

Our local bakery has started selling eggs, milk, cooked meats, butter and cheese...a godsend

Blobby10 · 16/04/2020 09:52

Aldi yesterday 6pm - daughter wasn't allowed in with me as there is a one person per household policy . Fair enough, she waited outside but right after me, a couple and their older teenage daughter turned up and each took at trolley in so they could negate this rule!!

Couldn't get flour or soap - neither bar nor liquid - and the salad items were a bit scarce but other than that they seemed to have plenty.

Not a lot of social distancing going on though - this Aldi is quite small and there are taped lines on all aisles 2 m apart. There were four people 'queuing' up one aisle whilst someone at the front fiffed and faffed getting everything on his list but clearly didn't know where it all was so positioned his trolley where no one could pass (even without the SD rules!) and went to and fro to the shelves each side of the aisle Grin .

I was being patient (for once!) and waiting when two men came and literally barged passed the waiting shoppers, no intention of SD, to get to the products at the end of the aisle. Wasn't sure if I should have said something but at the time couldn't think what to say!

BiddyPop · 16/04/2020 09:57

I was in our larger local SuperValu on Sunday, and while many things were ok, especially fresh foods, there were holes after appearing (shelves had been fully restocked after the first big rush when schools closed).

No liquid soap but there was bar soap
Rice and pasta depleted
Tinned foods generally lower - almost no tinned fish except a few tinned haddock fillets and the last few tins of sardines
Beans and chickpeas and lentils lower - just a few of each left on those shelves
Sweetcorn almost gone
Tinned carrots, peas, baked beans and pasta shapes all relatively ok
Mexican foods quite low - salsa gone, last couple of long life guacamole and sour cream in middle of empty space, packets of seasoning gone (fajitas, tacos, enchiladas etc), wraps very low
No tinned tomatoes or passata
Almost no coconut milk or other Asian bits like thai red curry paste
Jars of pasta sauce and curry were ok though
Condiments very low - no grainy mustard and very little other mustard (just the Dijon and some other French style one left), gravy almost gone
No custard
2 particular kinds of Belgian beer that DH likes were out of stock (not terribly unusual for either, but usually there is 1 if the other is gone) - plenty of regular lagers though
No tonic, or ginger ale
Sparkling water quite low, bottled water extremely low
Squash (Ribena etc) also low, holes on shelves but seemed to be some options for orange, blackcurrant, mixed fruit flavours even if not your preferred brands (a mixture of brands left - Robinsons orange barley water, Ribena blackcurrant, Miwadi summer fruits, a SV own brand orange)

Couple of obvious holes in cereals aisle but I don't know what was missing
Bread was low, holes on shelves, but still a good few loaves there
No eggs at all, of any kind (free range or otherwise)
Flour lower than normal but still available, sugar very depleted but there was still some brown or icing sugar if you really needed it
Some frozen veg depleted (peas, spinach) but still a few of those and plenty of others
Ice cream almost gone

Overall, things that had been a problem early on (fresh fruit and veg, meat, milk, bread, toilet paper/tissues) were generally ok, a little low in some cases but all there.

But many longer life items were in dire need of restocking.

We're now 2.5 weeks away from potential reducing restrictions, so I am worried mostly about things like eggs, and the constant need to resupply milk in our household. Freezer is starting to empty out too, which is good as I need to clean it out properly.

BiddyPop · 16/04/2020 10:03

On eggs, I suspect it's a combination of them being easy to eat, and to make things stretch, and being so versatile.

And that last weekend was Easter, and even if people were not having a normal Easter, they still wanted to bake something nice.

We eat a lot of eggs anyway (DD has eggs for breakfast before school, I use them to make carbonara type pasta sauces a lot, and baking), and we have been using them even more in recent weeks. But I had been looking forward to doing some nice baking at the weekend to pass the time and have a nice treat - but felt I couldn't "waste" the eggs I had left as stocks are so low. I may be able to this weekend instead.

BearSoFair · 16/04/2020 10:11

ifIwerenotanandroid Yes! Happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I sometimes make feta, olive, sundried tomato and basil muffins. Had the basil and some leftover olives, managed to get sundried tomatoes but no feta (who is stockpiling feta of all things???), olives were getting a bit soft and soggy by that point so we ended up using goats cheese. Not as nice but at least we managed to make something!

OP posts:
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