Why don’t supermarkets preempt “stuff”

[Iamnotagoddess]

Went shopping and though I’d get some ice lollies to stick in the freezer.

Four empty fridges where they had been totally raided.

Why don’t they preempt seasonal stuff?

At Christmas it’s mincemeat and sausage meat.

Bloody annoys me.

Having said that I wanted ice cubes yesterday and none were on display but when I asked a member of staff got some from the back freezer, they were selling quicker than they could stock up.

Back in the days before frost-free freezers, you would already have had a ready supply just patiently waiting there for you to come along with your chisel

I'm probably odd, but I don't understand the concept of buying in ice cubes in bags. It's so easy to make in a couple of hours if you have several ice cube trays for the freezer - and on the heatwave days when it tends to be in most demand, as soon as you get it out of the freezer, it melts in no time at all anyway.

home bargains and pound stretchers dont freeze their tip tops

went to both shops last week to stock up for this week and i bought 300 and not one was bloody frozen

all right it dont take long to freeze but my kids want them now

Tesco was full off BBQ meat today, it’s pissed it down all day here.

My local supermarket was selling their "Back To School" range (clothes and stationery) before the schools had broken up.

I found it deeply depressing.

Their next "thing" will be Halloween and then it'll be Christmas! Maybe some fireworks. Ho HO HO

The reason is all those people that stick a magnum of champagne or some such item they DON'T want in their booked delivery slot shopping basket and only alter to what they DO want on the last possible day.

Because they order weeks before stock comes in. That simple

Interesting reading the responses from those working in retail currently.

I worked in retail in the past and it was the sector my mum worked in the most before retiring.

Most ordering is I believe mostly "automated" now but I remember when store managers were able to have input in what their store stocked and actually I think it's a bad thing that's no longer the case.

Eg I'm in Scotland and there's been repeated ructions in recent times with our local supermarket (Tesco) as certain locally popular items (particularly specifically scots items) have been gradually being removed from their regular stock and customers are being told its due to lack of sales - not in this particular store where the items sell very well - but throughout the chain. When OF COURSE items that are regional are really only sold in and are popular in the stores located in the regions where those items are popular. I've a couple friends in Wales too and apparently same issue there. The store manager here (friend of my mums) is furious every time they remove another item of this type as its losing the store custom - not only in terms of people not being able to buy those particular products but they get pissed off and defect to different companies!

What we're also noticing locally (not sure how true elsewhere) is that buildings and fittings aren't being maintained properly. Our local the roof has been leaking for at least 5 years but they won't pay up to get it fixed! We're west coast Scotland so it rains here - pretty much all the time! So this means buckets and "wet floor" signage throughout the store which lets face it hardly makes a good impression. The fridges and freezers are regularly breaking down but aren't replaced, they've even been fined a few times as food that was being stored in too warm temps was still being sold and there were a few food poisoning incidents. So those along with "slip and falls" from the leaky roof must be costing them in legal actions!

But seriously - freezers that can't cope with not particularly high temps? Hardly inspires confidence!

As is often the case with uk we seem to lack the foresight or organisational skills to deal with basic weather changes when countries with much colder/warmer climates than ours seem to manage just fine.

Are those mentioning the freezer breakdowns as if that is no big deal, completely unpredictable and nobody's responsibility REALLY trying to get us to believe retailers in this country are incapable of purchasing ones that DON'T break down in a "not really that hot" heatwave? Come on!

Reminds me, my mum at one point asked how often the fridges and freezers were serviced and how often they were completely emptied and cleaned including pulled out and cleaned around them to ensure good maintenance/function - they looked at her like she had 2 heads! Yet anywhere with good practice on this kinda thing does this - usually IME 1-2 times a year, rotating which aisles/sections were cordoned off etc. Usually logically timed in with a stocktake.

One of the people she was discussing this with had worked there 15 years - she wasn't aware of the fridges and freezers EVER having been moved to clean behind/down sides of them whole time she had been there! The dust alone!

Ritzbiscuits - exactly - Iceland and farmfoods rarely have freezer breakdowns and when they do its sorted sharpish - priorities innit?

Also - if freezers are out of order but they have stock "in the back" why don't they put notices up to that effect?

Stock freezer up before summer, usually cheaper too

I live in a tourist area and it's always the same, the first weekend of every summer holiday... empty shelves at all the local supermarkets.

It's not even like it's some unexpected event like a heatwave or cold snap.

This reminds me of doing work experience in a Wall's factory years ago. They had to predict their manufacturing way in advance and that year there was a crap summer leaving them with freezer-loads of unsold ice creams and lollies . They had to shut the factory. I even got interviewed by local TV over it.

Point I am trying to make is that it is food manufacturers who are ultimately responsible for stocks of such weather-dependent food.

(Snarky Brexit note: wouldn't be useful to have employees who would do work such as this at short-notice?)

went to both shops last week to stock up for this week and i bought 300 and not one was bloody frozen

What were people saying about Brits stockpiling? This is why freezers run out.

However as others have said, all the supermarkets near us had freezer issues too in the heat

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
Laziness, lack of prep & lack of space in freezer are prob top reasons why you buy ice cubes.

Freezers break down in the heat wave because they are being opened and closed 20 times more. Regulating that temp change in 38 degrees must be tricky!

Ice creams run out because supermarkets can’t react to sporadic heatwaves. Well oiled but slow moving beasts.

The lady that bought 4 lolly’s in morrisons with loads left. We’re you up north and was this a day before it kicked in?! :)

@Graphista. I think that poor maintanance of stores is definitley a big issue all supermarkets need to work on, ours are in shocking states however the newly refurbished ones are amazing.

The issue with the fridges and freezers is the cooling units are on the roof, which is on hot metal surface. We had temperatures of 34°, however the thermometer on the roof was reading nearly 45°. All our fridges are open, so imagine trying to cool massive industrial sized units in 45° heat and not being able to close a door. We do have netting but then customers complain as they can't see the products.

Our freezers didn't ompletely die and break, they kept products frozen however they hit an unsafe freezing temperature, they are meant to be at -20 i believe, however if it drops too much, even if the products are still frozen, we have to waste them off

This is a pretty depressing thread to be honest. Brexit messes with Just in Time deliveries. Good luck in 90 odd days time
And buy reusable ice cubes . You never run out.

"Iceland and farmfoods rarely have freezer breakdowns and when they do its sorted sharpish - priorities innit?"

But freezer stock for Iceland and Farm foods, is 90% of what they sell, so they have to prioritise maintaining and stocking the freezers. Their stock doesn't change much, they just add in a few products, knowing that the majority of their shoppers will make do with what's there.

In regards to freezer breakdown etc it just depends on the budget allocated for the freezers. When my DH's refrigeration firm had the contract for M&S, they would use up any ledt over tax allowance, in February to replace their freezers. This was planned and budgeted for. They are also happy to pay for overnight work, so there's no disruption.

The firm had an expensive contract with them. A few Family members branched off and started their own refrigeration firms and scouted for contracts, the big stores didn't want to spend what they really needed to.

They also spend according to what they think their customers will put up with. So better postcodes get better maintenance and renewal. They know their demographic.

Have you ever worked in retail?! It’s summer so of course they will have higher levels of ice lollies in, and then at Xmas more mincemeat in but when a heat wave comes it is usually unpredicted higher than normal weather and the supermarkets forecasting teams like everyone else in the country don’t have the crystal ball of when it will be to increase stock even further 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

Even if you make allowances for events such as heatwaves, it doesn't explain why supermarkets are so bad at stock control generally. Mine regularly runs out of Vimto and wood pellet cat litter and diet drinks - basic, ordinary things that there hasn't been a run on. They sell the same things to the same people every week, so you'd think they'd know how much to order and to reorder in a timely fashion. Isn't that the purpose of bar codes, so they don't even have to think about it?
Also not clear how this has anything to do with Brexit since it has been this way for a long time.

@IWannaSeeHowItEnds , you don't see how problems with supply and distribution as exemplified by a bit of a heatwave spell has any thing to do with no Deal Brexit? Really?

Look, I don't care how anyone voted when it comes to advising them to get a small buffer of food in incase it's bumpy at the shops. Please give it some thought if you were freaked out by supermarkets' failure to have a bottomless pit of lollies last week.

This was my job until a few years ago - Demand Planner for one of the major manufacturers. I didn’t work on ice cream but some of my other products were seasonal. There are all sorts of factors which go into planning demand - weather is one, however while you can predict for a generally hot summer you can’t know that far in advance which specific days are going to be the hottest. And that’s where the problems come in.

With something like ice cream you can’t produce tons in January to stock pile, because it will be out of date by the time you need it. Even if you have the capacity to produce a few days before, getting the materials required may not be possible (let’s face it, milk is a major component for some of these, you can’t magic up a load more cows at short notice).

And even as a manufacturer if you have the stock - there are logistical limits in terms of truck availability and lead time - it takes time to get it to the retailer warehouse, then in to store, then out to the shop floor... Multiply all this up across hundreds of stores and multiple retailers and I’m not surprised you end up with a few out of stock for a specific day. Chances are they are all back in stock today but it’s raining here so now the demand is gone again...

Not just ice cream. Our Local Morrison’s cannot get Helium for their party shop due to a global shortage of the stuff.

If no deal Brexit had actually happened, then yes, I could understand people blaming it for stock shortages. But it hasn't happened, literally nothing has changed in the supermarkets ability to buy stock on time. I'm not blaming them for the lack of lollies (although there are plenty where I am, so some places are managing fine with the heatwave) , but lack of 'normal' stock has been going on since before Brexit.
Clearly something is going wrong - either they are ordering too late or not supporting suppliers properly, or simply not bothering in certain post codes.
Even in 'posh' supermarkets, there is a difference in quality depending upon where the branch is.
I'm not saying that fear over Brexit isn't affecting confidence levels and making businesses cautious, only that this problem pre dates Brexit so to blame it too much is ignoring the other things going on.

@IWannaSeeHowItEnds of course lolly-gate has nothing to do with Brexit. But it shows how vulnerable we are in our shops to any bump, be that weather related or whatever. And a No Deal Brexit will affect supply and distribution. Even for a day likely to be longer . If you aren't thinking about that , especially in the light of lolly-gate, you should start now.

Modern supermarkets have woeful stock control anyway, regardless of weather or brexit.

Our local Morrisons has an abysmal "bakery" - I go at varying times and never, ever, seen a full rack/shelf of "fresh" bakery products. Occasionally they have some baguettes, but usually not - 9 times out of ten the "baguette stand" will be empty. It's a lottery whether they have any scones etc - and if they do, they're usually stale or burned, or they're "fruit" scones without any fruit it.

Compare that with Sainsbury. I've never yet been unable to buy a baguette - they always have them, and also have other varieties of bread stick such as cheese or tomoto etc which Morrisons never have. Also, buying other things like scones is a lot better - far better range and barely ever suffer them being stale.

Heaven knows how Morrisons manage to get their bakery so wrong. But, I can confidently forecast that before long, they'll decide to scrap their in house bakeries and then do the usual blaming of "lack of demand" when it was their own damn fault to employ incompetents either to make the stuff or order it in.

Our local waitrose is going to be turned into a Lidl.

The bakery bit of our local co op is always completely empty by 11am. I understand not wanting to make too much and throw it away but they are open until 9pm. That's ten hours of empty shelves every single day. Baffling.