To think that people don't seem to have noticed that the shelves are empty. ?

[Finknottlesnewt]

I have just popped into my local co-op (decent sized supermarket not a corner shop) . I wanted a chicken to roast, some Maris piper potatoes and some frozen peas... nothing. In fact no frozen veg. No pork as a chicken substitute. Salad potatoes but nothing I could roast.

I went to Tesco and got the last chicken. Also successful with Potatoes but no frozen peas.

I am not after unicorn tears. I mean it doesn't get much more normal than chicken spuds and peas. ! Tesco had NO fruit and (much to the consternation of many in the queue) only about 4 packets of cigarettes - none of which were the variety people were after.

Am I just living in a very badly affected area (rural southeast) .. or is anyone else starting to find this worrying ?

Local tesco had had huge gaps in soft drinks and practically all of the freezers were empty last week - except for ice cream. They were fuller this week however still huge gaps. Local Aldi also has some huge gaps in their freezers. We occasionally buy a frozen chicken pie for a easy dinner and couldn't find one of the three we usually get. Outskirts of a city in the NW.

Though from MSM you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s widespread! Controlling the thoughts of us plebs perhaps :)

No issues here in the Midlands.

Someone mentioned shelves with no fizzy water.

That’s not brexit or Covid. That’s cause by the increase in natural gas prices causing the fertiliser plants to shut down and so stop making by the carbon dioxide byproduct that is then used in food.

There are only 5 plants in Europe and I know that at least three have been running reduced capacity and have now shut down until gas prices get better.

@KleineDracheKokosnuss

Someone mentioned shelves with no fizzy water.

That’s not brexit or Covid. That’s cause by the increase in natural gas prices causing the fertiliser plants to shut down and so stop making by the carbon dioxide byproduct that is then used in food.

maybe to some extent, but I've also seen video of it being poured away in cases where it just can't be transported.

Fizzy water and still water

I think you'd probably only notice empty shelves if they were empty, wouldn't you? So a bit of an odd question.
They're are empty in some areas, at some times, which is what was predicted for end of August/Sept, I think.
They were described as potential rolling shortages at the time.
I think that's more accurate.

Retailers are doing a sterling job handling this nightmare and masking as best they can the stark reality. 20% of orders are currently not fulfilled. The equivalent of 1 aisle being bare in 5… the issues are up and down the supply chain.

We are in a massive self inflicted Brexit shit storm. Inflation has started and it’s going to be quite a ride.

I'm in South East. Can't always get everything on my list but can always get decent substitutes. The sell by dates are frequently short. The shelf stackers are being quite artistic filling gaps, but there certainly isn't the rammed to the rafters feeling that there used to be.

Full shelves here and no subs in the last two Ocado orders. (Although I did get half of someone else’s shopping a few weeks ago).
We’re Bucks.

I’m up North and there has been the odd thing I couldn’t get from Tesco, but I just got it elsewhere.

There are empty shelves near me in London but small amounts and it's mostly affecting choice eg you can't get a choice of 4 brands anymore. Really shocked you couldn't get those basics, OP.

I'm not noticing huge shortages in the SW. However, i work in healthcare and patients cannot get important blood tests due a shortage of glass vials.
My dad who voted brexit thinks that shortages and staff shortages are a lie. Bless .

Same in our two local co-ops for a good 2/3 weeks now. Both said supply chain issues. Empty shelves galore.

I work in the industry and there is absolutely a problem, a big problem. There are huge labour shortages in agriculture, food production sites, warehouses and of HGC drivers. We have sites operating at 25% capacity due to staffing issues.

Several of the major supermarkets have significantly lowered the stock availability targets for their stores. I don’t think we will get to empty shelves everywhere but choice will likely be more limited as we get closer to Christmas and we will have to make compromises as shoppers.

You can roast salad potatoes.

Yes I think it depends on the shop. For example my local Wilkos was really bare whereas Savers was fine.

@TheBullfinch

No issues here in the Midlands.

Really? We are in the midlands and there are large areas of empty shelves in Sainsbury’s. Fruit and veg in short supply, not a single bottle of red top milk in the entire (very large) store, only granulated sugar, little bottled water… In Waitrose the usual long fridge of cheese was condensed into a third and the other sections empty. There is plenty of food available but it’s not true to say there are no issues in the Midlands.

Yes @Pottedpalm, we're in the Midlands and there are significant issues where we are.

I live opposite a co op so pop in regularly at different times - they are particularly affected by shortages and have very little fresh produce on the shelves. There is never fresh bread, chicken of any kinds, most basic fruits and veg, and things like frozen oven chips etc are sporadic. Fridges are often quite empty.
I have not seen similar in the large tesco / Asda / Morrison's etc though - I think there is a particular problem with the co op as it has been this way for at least a month!

Oh, SE Hampshire market town but colleagues work around country and report co op problems everywhere!

Nope. All fine in Derbyshire OP!

We have shortages where I am in the Midlands, but that's not very helpful, the Midlands is huge. I think saying its OK here in Cardiff, London etc is not helpful. There is clearly a stock problem, its just appears to be fairly random.

Well the Midlands is a pretty big area. I’m in the Midlands and we have no issues currently. But then again we never ran out of toilet roll in our local co-op either back in 2020!

[quote worriedatthemoment]@FlyingScott brexit happened ages ago and the stock issues are recent and to do with hgv drivers of which europe also is lacking some hgv drivers , its not all to do with brexit [/quote]
Brexit did not 'happen' ages ago. If you think that then you have no actual understanding of the true meaning of 'Brexit'.
Whilst all those in favour voted for some kind of utopian 'Great Britain of yesteryear' they forgot that our infrastructure is serviced by hundreds of thousands of Eastern European's who do all the shit jobs that Brits don't want to do.

Do people HONESTLY believe that Joe Bloggs from Cambridge is really going to get up at 4:30 am on a January morning to pull frozen broccoli out of a Norfolk field . ?

Regardless of the wage being offered. ? It's not a trick question. It's reality and the answer is NO.

The loss of European labour . Especially those from the East has had a catastrophic effect on our ability to harvest, slaughter, process and deliver our food stuffs.
It has had a similar effect in manufacturing , care and health services.

The date by which you had to be registered with pre-settled of settled status in the UK , in order to continue working here was ... 30 June.
Issues began in July.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist in order to work out that this is far more of a Brexit issue than a Covid issue . Covid started in March 2020 and since the initial lockdown, has very gradually improved. NOTHING like the empty shelves seen now were seen last year with the exception of a few weeks in April 2020 because of panic buying .