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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To wonder where all the food has gone..

126 replies

runningpram · 21/03/2020 11:30

I know it sounds a daft question but just that really.
I've been to the shops and while they were admittedly busier than usual people seemed to be buying normal amounts - I haven't seen anyone buying excessive amounts and there are very few images of it on social media. Clearly demand is substantially higher than usual. But I still don't understand why the shop shelves are completely bare. I popped into Iceland twice in 24 hours - on neither occasion did I buy anything - but lots of the same items were out and the same gaps remained. It looked as though it hadn't been restocked.
My Mum went to Sainsbury's early opening for older/vulnerable people and there was still nothing on the shelves. Obviously this is just the anecdotal evidence of a couple of people
So my question to retail insiders is - what's really happening? Is it case that deliveries aren't coming in, the food can't be put out quick enough, there's issues in the supply chain or is it totally panic buyers?

OP posts:

Hingeandbracket · 21/03/2020 11:33

Has to be panic buyers. I haven't been to the shops any more frequently than normal (twice this week) but on both occasions there were many many more people in there than normal.

itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted · 21/03/2020 11:41

I've just been to our big Sainsbury - given that it's a Saturday and it's been open 3 hours wasn't expecting much and got loo rolls and hand wash 🥳🥳🥳
Lots and lots of fruit and veg, mince beef and chicken and even stuff for the freezer. Lots of things on short supply (obviously no pasta!) and the alcohol aisle was taking a hammering 🤣 but if you were worried about not feeding your family tonight then no fears in my area (suburb of big city)
I honestly think the photos people have been sharing on social media of empty supermarkets is just before closing time or something just to scare people into even more panic buying

EverydayLife · 21/03/2020 11:44

The empty shelves in Tesco today were in the alcohol section. Everything else eg milk, bread, meat, fruit and veg, ready meals seemed normal.

BodiesMakeForGoodFertiliser · 21/03/2020 11:45

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted I want to move where you live😂 My local supermarkets did indeed look like that pictures people were sharing.

BodiesMakeForGoodFertiliser · 21/03/2020 11:45

It should stabilise soon. Come on. These people must have run out of space to store it alp😂

arethereanyleftatall · 21/03/2020 11:45

@itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted
It isn't dependent on closing time. It's dependent on where you live. Our shops look like that most of the day.

BodiesMakeForGoodFertiliser · 21/03/2020 11:45

*all

makingmiracles · 21/03/2020 11:48

Went at store opening this morning, 7am, lots not been restocked, hardly any milk, no cream, no bread products apart from some crumpets, fruit and veg but not a huge amount, no rice, pasta or many tinned foods, freezer looking bare, no peanut butter. Went to a second supermarket around 7.20am and they had no meat bar a few lonely packs of sausages, no rice pasta or tins, hardly any cereal no bread at all and even the alcohol sections in both were starting to look a bit bare.
Think this proves they are supply problems, in some areas at least, clearly there had been no restocking of much since yesterday when I went in.
(I’m not a panic buyer btw, only went in for cream, wraps and wine lol)

tellmewhentheLangshiplandscoz · 21/03/2020 11:50

I'm hoping some idiots will die from being crushed under the weight of their stockpile, Darwin style.

Only joking obv totally not joking

Lotts123 · 21/03/2020 11:51

I went to my local Tesco at 10am yesterday to shop for my 80yr old neighbour (I have done this every week for the past 7yrs). The meat aisle was empty, no bread, no eggs, no rice or pasta, freezers empty, no long life milk, no butter, no tins of anything and no pet food. His weekly shop is always the same select items, I couldn’t get 3/4 of it! I had to go to 2 other shops and even then he has had to have things he wouldn’t usually have which is a big deal for him (he likes things the same) as well as go without.

I’ve got a delivery from Asda booked for tomorrow but I’m dreading to think what will actually turn up. I don’t think people are buying lots of things in one go anymore, but I do think people are rushing out every day and buying the same things over and over. I only shop once a week and I’ve stuck to that, but that may mean that come tomorrow I’m goin to have minimal shopping.

BodiesMakeForGoodFertiliser · 21/03/2020 11:51

There are Darwin awards so... We might see....
I do wish on people with 200+rolls of toilet paper that they are the 4% with diarhhoea. Not gonna lie...

Prepenultimate · 21/03/2020 11:55

Just been to local Coop. Hardly any milk left but other food items at normal stock levels- fresh fruit, fridges full, plenty of tins, fruit juice. Didn't check loo roll/ soap/ cleaner aisle.

SapphireSalute · 21/03/2020 11:55

i doubt the extra supplies have kicked in yet, will take time

Willow2017 · 21/03/2020 11:56

So my question to retail insiders is - what's really happening? Is it case that deliveries aren't coming in, the food can't be put out quick enough, there's issues in the supply chain or is it totally panic buyers?

Its a combination of all of them. Despite rationing certain things we cannot keep up with the sheer volume of people and the amounts they are buying. Deliveries come in and shelves of certain things are emptied within an hour!
We usually have about 4-5 tills going at once in a normal busy day now its 7-8 just to keep queues down as far as poss. If you arent in a supermarket every day you have no idea how mad it is. We used to have quiet spells now it never stops. People spending £150 - £300 at a time and not even blinking. Its a real eye opener.

I honestly think the photos people have been sharing on social media of empty supermarkets is just before closing time or something just to scare people into even more panic buying
Maybe your shop is catching up or is closer to a warehouse. Ours isnt and we rely on deliveries being sent to us. If they arent large enough for our needs nothing we can do about it. We had shelves with huge empty spaces in them for days as the deliveries just werent keeping up with everything we needed.
They have changed opening hours now so hopefully we will get more time to fill shelves if we can get the deliveries.

AnnieOH1 · 21/03/2020 11:57

We live in a market town and generally have only had issues with folks from the nearby city coming and raiding for toilet rolls!

Stores seem to be getting timely deliveries aside from Tesco the next town over. The Aldi in that town though is doing fine as is Wilkos.

We're probably quite luck in that we still have a number of independent butchers and farm shops, greengrocers and markets. On top of the regular supermarket chains I mean. Freezer food seems to have gone down in the supermarket but not a problem in other stores in town.

My parents though live in a big city and have struggled to get basics like bread and milk - even at the local wholesalers.

Sn0tnose · 21/03/2020 11:57

DH works in a supermarket. Deliveries are coming in absolutely fine, it’s just being snaffled faster than they can get it out on the shelves.

pigsDOfly · 21/03/2020 12:02

There was a thing on my fb from a British woman living in Spain who sent photos of the shelves in her local supermarket.

Absolutely full as normal. The reason she sent them was because she had heard about the panic buying here and wanted to reassure people.

Spain had been the same apparently, but once things settled down a bit and people stopped panicking so much the supermarkets started to fill up with food as normal. Hopefully, it'll be the same here.

People, will run out of space, as Bodies says and they will also run out of money if a lot of people aren't at work.

One of the awful aspects of this is that there is surely going to be a hell of a lot of waste.

Fresh food is flying off the shelves just as quickly as everything else. People just grabbing everything regardless of what they actually need, or can eat before it perishes, means a lot of it will end up in the bin and the people who don't have the money or space to overbuy will have to go without.

FoxtrotOscarPoppet · 21/03/2020 12:03

Our supermarkets are pretty empty.

I think the supermarkets should lock all the big trolleys away and just leave the baskets out. People can then only buy what then can carry.

isseywith4vampirecats · 21/03/2020 12:05

went past aldi this morning at 7.45 on my way to work and people were queing up outside

Thelnebriati · 21/03/2020 12:05

DS1 works in a supermarket and says its panic buyers and people selling stuff at high markups on ebay and Amazon. He thinks they should do more to limit the prices.
They do limit the number of items each person can take, but its difficult for staff if a family of 4 come in, or people come back 2 or 3 times.

Willow2017 · 21/03/2020 12:06

I think the supermarkets should lock all the big trolleys away and just leave the baskets out. People can then only buy what then can carry.
And if you cant carry a basket full of stuff you actually need?
If you have a family to feed and just getting a normal shop?

waspfig · 21/03/2020 12:08

Isn't it the case that our supermarkets work on just in time deliveries? They are super attuned to what customers will buy on a particular day, on a given week.

If everyone buys 'just one more' or does just an extra little shop each week then the stock levels will obviously drop and will take a while for deliveries to pick up the slack.

Butterfly98 · 21/03/2020 12:08

@runningpram all the food is being bought every morning by the panic buyers who start queuing up with their trollies very early in the morning before the shops have even opened!! It's totally selfish and unfair on everyone else so if any panic buyers are reading this then just STOP IT NOW like that poor nurse said on Thursday after finishing her 48 hr shift!

SneezyMcSneezeface · 21/03/2020 12:09

We usually buy a weekly shop and top up bits during the week, but if we thought we were getting quarantined then we need 2x that at home plus no top ups, plus all meals being made at home ( no cafe, kids eating at school etc)
Then multiply that by most families doing the same and you have shortages...

BodiesMakeForGoodFertiliser · 21/03/2020 12:10

It's like 1 snowflake shopping on steroids

On a serious note. I am getting same pics from my family abroad @pigsDOfly. They just don't understand why are we having these issues

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