Are you stocking up on food/household items?

[DaisyDooley]

Have you started ‘stocking up’ on items you think might be rising sharply or might become harder to get hold of?
We know that there will be a knock on effect of ships being stuck in the Straight of Hormuz.
I read that food prices are expected to go up by 9% by Christmas. I can’t remember where I read it don’t shoot me but I thought at the time that it was a ‘proper’ source (as opposed to my mates from school on Facebook).
If you are stocking up -what are you buying?

Baked beans and toilet rolls.

That's not really true but I did buy 4 tins of beans today because they were on the shopping list. I was brought up in the 1950s in a village. If there was snow there was a risk of us being cut off so my mother always made sure that we had some tins and packets in the pantry

What proper source? No one has any idea what will happen next. The war could end tomorrow. Or in 3 weeks, 3 months or 3 years. All forecasts are guess work.

The Lack of fertlilzer and CO2 means that some things WILL be going up lots more than inflation no matter what happens next.

Is the Guardian ‘proper source’ enough for you?
Ir doesn’t matter what happens next -it’s what has already happened that will cause prices to rise. If it gets worse out there then prices will rise even more sharply.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/01/uk-food-inflation-iran-war-drives-up-energy-prices

@caringcarer @Ciri Waitrose have got 15% fat minced beef on offer at £7 per kilo. It’s very nice and makes great burgers/meatloaf/balls.
A 4 hr slot delivery (if they deliver to you) is only £2 and they do get some great offers. It’s a no waste freezable pack too so takes up the minimum freezer space (but not all squished together in a lump like Sainsburys).
Plus it’s only a £40 minimum spend for delivery.
You can also get a bit of cashback from quidco if you spend more than £80, It all helps!
oh and the mince is on offer for deliveries up to 12 May.

I get mine from Lidl. If you spend £250 a month on shopping, which we always do, you get 10 percent of your next shop. We get a £200 shop as I pick up washing up powder, fabric softener, washing up liquid, toilet rolls, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, spaghetti,
frozen food, several packs of 750g of mince, all tins and cereal for whole of the next month.

I saw someone buying 36 tins of mackerel the other day. Does that count?

The only thing I'm stocking up on is Cadburys creme eggs in boxes of 5, but that's only because our local village shop has a glut and they've reduced them.

They are going up now. I’m a farmer with a supermarket deal. Had a price this this week mainly related to NMW increases but also with fuel costs increasing.

Bit cheeky as there’s a problem with mackerel stocks being unsustainable. Waitrose has committed to not restocking until they’ve reached sustainable levels again.

But 9% is so specific. That was more my point. Impossible to predict. It’s a terrible situation.

Im not buying any tins of beans.

Just the normal amount when I need to, or extra if they're on offer.

I prepped before.

I prepped when there were concerns about electricity outages.

I prepped during covid.

Throughout I didn't need to use any of my supplies.

I have a good store cupboard. With essentials. Can last a good while without needing to go to a shop if needed- though meals may become monotonous.

I think if were at the level where we are needing to self supply water that isn't just for a day or 2 then society has broken down. And I doubt whatever prepping will help much in those cases.

although they are already canned so it is a bit late

That’s a ridiculous approach. So you think if there were water supply issues for more than two days then society has broken down and it’s not worth going on.

what if they got it running again on day 4? Or day 6? Would you have given up.

people make do the best they can in emergency situations. It’s human nature to try to survive and to try to protect our families. Those who have prepped (as asked to do by the government) would be fine because they had extra water to last them at least 72 hours (plus most people will also have other drinks available in their homes anyway in the form of juice, fizzy drinks, wine etc). Those people can stay at home and not be a burden. Those that haven’t would be panic buying in the shops, queuing for emergency supplies/ trying to boil rainwater etc.

I know which I’d rather be.

we should be trying to encourage as many people as possible to stock up since a resilient society benefits everyone. Not saying I did it and then didn’t use it (although god knows why you didn’t use it when we had a genuine world wide crisis) so it’s pointless and nobody should do as we’ve been asked to do.

We’ve always bought things on deal for affordability but it’s lapsed a bit as the deals aren’t really deals anymore 😅 We always have too much pasta, rice, beans, crackers as a result and I have a hidden stash of crisps and sweets just in case eg there was a storm and we needed the kids to cheer up. Saying that panic buying isn’t a good thing

when is it panic buying and when is it prepping?

I think prepping is gradually building a reserve over time and panic buying is reading the news and going straight to the shop to buy everything.

Agree. But buying now is sensible and is prepping. Buying when there are shortages/an emergency scenario is panic buying.

buying now is sensible?
even though there are warnings around?

Yes of course. Because at the moment there aren't shortages. Every person who puts stuff aside now whilst supply chains are still running smoothly helps everyone else.

At the moment if there is higher demand for fruit juice, Sainsbury's systems note this and they order more fruit juice. It's still available so more quickly arrives to meet increased demand. It's when something has happened to affect the world supply of fruit juice and as a reaction everyone buys it up all that was left that this can't happen. Buying now is completely fine and is the responsible thing to do.

can anyone explain why stocking up (not panic buying) is a good thing to do or if anyone is admitting to doing so right now say why. I don't mean those who have always had a full cupboard because of living in a rural place etc etc I mean in response to this particulr situation. I mean if you buy to avoid price increases - you wont be saving that much surely and risk of overbuying and having to chuck out of date stuff negates this. Eventually you will have to buy at the higher price any way. Unless I'm missing something? I'm not criticising anyone trying to be prepared - like others, I like to be prepared and organised as it helps me feel less stressed. Just not quite seeing what others are seeing. Covid - I could get - it was the possibly of not be able to leave the house but UK supermarkets have plenty of choice and good supply chains, surely?

Because there are likely to be shortages of things due to fuel/fertiliser/CO2 issues and we are even more vulnerable to things like cyber attacks on banking and infrastructure in times of conflict.

UK supermarkets currently have good supply chains but a lot of stuff is flown in due to the fact that it has a short shelf life.

beer, soft drinks, salad, and meat production are potentially affected

Of course. But there was a shortage on salad goods - I think tomatoes - last year or whenever and I read about it in the news at the time and I'm afraid it just passed me by. I didn't notice it at all in the shops. Yes, maybe one day they didn't have cucumbers or something like that but it wasn't a big deal. And there was a carbon dioxide shortage I think - again I think the bagged salad went off quicker but they were still being sold. I don't know... I can't work out if this is just a big headache on the supermarkets rather than us the consumers. Obviously, prices will go up...

Yes but at the moment there is still plenty in the shops.

In a few weeks' time, maybe not.