To wonder who did all the stockpiling?

[stayathomewannabee]

Now pictures are emerging of massive food waste...
Who are/were these people.
We have decent incomes as do many of our friends and none of us stockpiled...
We are full time workers with primary school age children.
So who bought all the stuff? And who the heck stockpiled soya milk?

The ones in Coventry were by student accommodation. They had to leave sharpish to get flights home.

Very few people actually stockpiled.

Most people bought a little more than they usually did - about an extra £20 per family iirc.

If everyone buys an extra bag of pasta, extra loo rolls, extra beans etc the supply chain can't keep up.

Then we lockdown and suddenly everyone needs to buy extra food for all those meals not being eaten at school, work and in cafes and restaurants. Everyone doing the equivalent of a "Christmas shop" in March means shortages as it wasn't planned for.

I’ve been wondering that as none of my friends are admitting it

I will admit that we threw half a box of grapes.
But that was my fault.
I was mistaken that when my children ate a whole box in one day and then kicked off constantly that they wanted grapes that they wanted me to buy another box.
I did so.

They do not like grapes apparently.

I think as Cary says, many people did a Christmas type shop rather than massive stockpiles.

The pictures in the papers of Empire shelves where loo rolls should have been did make people stock pile

Those idiots seen buying multiple packets of cereal etc could very well have been buying for elderly parents or neighbours. We shouldn’t judge so quickly.

I spent about £30 a week extra on frozen and cupboard goods for 3 weekly shops end Jan and early Feb, when it became obvious what was coming.

I haven’t stockpiled fresh stuff. Our fridge is pretty empty now; I am waiting to see if Tesco arrive tomorrow or not!

There might have been the odd few that went crazy but I still think most people just got a little extra. Anyone that was over 70/vulnerable would have had a good idea lockdown was coming and they’d need to be prepared for it.

I bought extra tinned, cupboard and frozen long-life stuff. I’m glad I did; getting a delivery slot is a game of chance at the moment and we cannot go out.

@Longdistance they might not have been stockpiling. We get through 3 boxes of cereal a week. We get through a lot of food full stop, there's 6 of us. I'm dreading having to go to the supermarket to do a weekly shop when our quarantine is over (was lucky and had a delivery slot just before it began!) because I'm sure everyone will think I'm stockpiling

Stockpiling is a gradual process, it's panic buying that's the issue here!

Everyone I know bought in a little extra - I fully admit I panic bought a freezer and filled it with food for my DS as he has a restricted diet and would starve before trying new foods especially during such a stressful time and change in routine (he has been hospitalised for doing so before after the HV "he won't starve himself, he's just being fussy" advice). I wouldn't have done so if it weren't for the shelves emptying so quickly - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...

Although we go through 2/3 boxes of cereal and 16-20 pints of milk a week so I probably look like a stock piler anyway! 🤷‍♀️

I don't understand what happened, if the level of stockpiling went on that we are lead to believe surely no one would need to shop now but I'm seeing pictures of huge ques daily.

I did a reasonable shop just before social distancing was officially advised, it's lasted pretty well with a couple of top ups (milk/bread sort of thing) and should see us to a delivery next week. The shop to be delivered is massive compared to our usual because of us all being home- I don't know how a 4 year old can eat what mine seems to, somehow that 1 extra meal and 7895 snacks a day has added a lot to our trolley, maybe others thought ahead to similar scenarios?

I will admit I bought a bigger shop than I normally would at the very end of Feb. I'm not sure what youd count as stockpiling but stuff like extra tinned tomatoes, pasta etc in case we got stuck in. Seeing pictures from china /Italy was a huge wake up call. After that I have shopped normally.

I am getting through food much quicker though as I'm sure others are- previously kids at school 5 days a week with school dinners, now suddenly needing feeding at home. Plus minimising trips out means you buy a bigger shop to avoid going out more often.

Surely people stocked up on non-perishables and are still having to pick up fresh food?

I think a great many people bought "just a little bit more than normal", rather than it being just a few people hoarding tons.

The pictures have been explained, they were taken outside accommodation of international students who were all told to leave halls and return home in a very short space of time so had little choice but to bin everything in their kitchens.

I think anyone who remembers the war and ration books went straight out and bought the fecking shop up.

I don't think masses of us really went out and stockpiled to any kind of extreme - I think people just chucked another £40/£50 of shopping into their trolley over a period of 10 days and if an entire nation does that for a few consecutive weeks you end up with a gap in the supply chain.

I also think that panic breeds panic so the few people who have been out and stockpiled to any real extent probably did so without intending to be greedy or unkind or cause trouble. It's human instinct to panic in times of trauma; as much as we want to tough this out, it's going to be a huge trauma for some of us and whilst we need to be kind to the vulnerable, we also need to remember that some of the vulnerable might also be the ones panicking.

I didn't know those pictures were taken near student accommodation, but my first thought was, "that's someone moving house".

@shinyredbus There's plenty in my area. Would you like me to send you some?

We've been preparing for 18 months now. Initially due to Brexit but we started adding more in early January. Our fridge is quite empty as we stocked up on non-perishables. Certainly not panic buying. We also have a fruit and veg box every two weeks with eggs.
Our freezer is full but it's not a big one, we also sold our chest freezer recently so it's just a standard sized freezer.

I think it was owners of corner shops and similar. A couple near us are selling lidl and aldi stuff for 3 times the price

We did. Not on toilet paper though. Rice, tinned food, paracetamol, nuts, biscuits, flour, pasta , peanut butter ,honey, long life milk and pumpkins.

I laughed at my husband when he did it (he did most of it) a couple of months ago when the virus first started being reported. Now I am glad. We've been able to stay at home for about a week without having to go out.

No one ever admits to panic buying.

So therefore it cannot have occurred.

But it has and so everyone is lying.

Goady post then OP disappears, how very typical at the moment, don't give it any more energy people