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 ?

@SingingInTheShithouse

Same here! They can't give them away

That did make me laugh, bonkers isn't it

They literally have them at the end of lidl bit free to take and they can't give them away!

@Orangejuicemarathoner

We are covered in courgettes too.

I might stock up and make a load of vegetable pasta bake and freeze it.

No shortages I've seen or anyone I know reported in Surrey.

That’s always the way with courgettes! We have an allotment and the rule of thumb is, however many courgettes you plant you always end up with far too many!

We only had shortages when the tourists were here. Thankfully its back to normal and fully stocked.

@JesusInTheCabbageVan

No issues in Cardiff.

However the Tesco in Penarth Marina does have some issues. Not as bad as friends in other areas have reported, but not how it used t9 be.

I’ve noticed. Starting to feel quite worrying. In South East.

central london - quite a lot of unexpected shortages - but I have an attitude of going to the supermarket of what meals I need to buy for, & what do thet have that I fancy, rather than a set shopping list.
I was surprised by a largish tesco with no milk a few weeks ago - but a plentiful supply in the nearby sainsbury.

I'm in South Wales and couldn't get any milk, frozen food, carbonated drinks or cereals. This is in a large city on a Saturday morning, the shelves had strategically placed items to cover up the gaps. Not good and it's not Covid related since things are back to normal, this is Brexit and it's only really just started.

Went to a fully stocked Aldi today in the Midlands. The only gaping hole is all the seasonal Halloween stuff which would normally be out by now and the kids are missing it.

@cardibach it did occur to me after I posted that I probably can't speak for the whole of Cardiff

Slight derail - I was in Penarth earlier! We had Sunday lunch at the Pilot, it was very nice.

I've noticed it in my part of Yorkshire. There's been gaps on the shelves with things like fruit, veg, some meat, bread, juice, frozen veg, chips etc when usually there'd rarely be gaps. That said it usually only lasts for a day or so and then there's full shelves again. It's a pain but at least its nowhere near as bad as the empty shelves at the beginning of covid when the was nothing for weeks with some items.

It's worrying but we don't have the money to buy in advance and keep things stocked up at home so we just have to make do with what we can get at the shop when we go.

Birmingham and noticing I can never get chicken or broccoli. Managed to get both today though so was pleased

Had the last chicken in the big Tesco today. Tonic is scarce. Quite a few freezers empty. But generally, can get enough if you compromise.

No whole chickens or chicken breasts. No green beans, broccoli, onions or red peppers. No bananas. No cream. No quiche. Loads of other gaps. (Friday: Aldi, Nottingham)

Had the last chicken in the big Tesco today
Well I hope you're going to follow Mumsnet protocol and make it last for at least 5 meals then Hullbilly!
Chicken is short here too but other meats are ok. Its fruit and veg that seem to be the hardest thing to get hold of. There hasn't been a cucumber in our nearest Tesco for weeks, and salad in general is pretty hit and miss.

Co2 gas issue is leading item on BBC news tonight. Food and drink Federation chappie saying there will be issues by the end of the week and into next week.

Yes Mrs advocate, I will be boiling bones all week to eek it out. It is actually a small, organic one with not much meat on sadly. I have bought bags of quorn to keep us going. I'd be lost without salad though.

Sorry Mrs avocet, my auto correct is taking over!

I'm in Lancashire. Called at Asda at 3 today - always running out of things by Sunday afternoon. But they had everything except 17p bottles of fizzy and still water and vanilla coke. 😥 Lidl and Morrisons seemed fine on Friday too.

Getting online orders on the South coast has been fine. Something will vanish for a week or two & then reappear, but most things are unaffected.

One thing I've noticed, though, is that some items are becoming worse quality. I've stopped buying chicken breasts since repeatedly getting ones which had a strange, rubbery texture - wtf does somebody do to a chicken to make it like that??

When I check reviews of products, they seem to say more & more often, 'What have you done, this used to be wonderful & you've cheapened it'.

Tesco's (North West England) had no bottled water today, obviously not a huge problem as there's water in the tap! But it normally takes up a big part of the back wall. Fruit was very gappy.
I have noticed the quality of stuff is really, really variable. We get meatballs most weeks and last week they weren't the same. Veg isn't keeping well (though it hasn't been great since they stopped putting dates on it).

Co-op has been shocking, no fresh, but they've had a non Brexit related issue with refrigeration in the NW.

M&S looks full, but on closer inspection there isn't as much choice in fruit and veg.

Greater London here, no shortages in the supermarkets I've been too. Thankfully got the food I want.

@SusannaM i was in my local Co-op a couple of weeks ago and i had 2L of milk in my basket. Manager stood at the till and confiscated all chilled items and they had been told of refrigeration issues. Unsure what the situation is like now, I usually pop to tesco on my way home from work.

We have empty shelves, loads of subs in my online order and a lot of stuff has just disappeared off the website so you can’t even order it, even if they might sometimes actually have it in store.