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 ?

I agree, we won't starve but things are definitely worse postbrexit.

In our area, Lidl and Co op are by far the worst affected. Sainsburys have had shortages too but the others seem to be coping OK.

@AlexaShutUp

There was no milk in tesco the other day. Not just none of my favourite brand, literally none. Also no onions. Very little in the way of fresh produce altogether to be honest. And very empty chilled cabinets.

I went to the co-op on the same day to try and find my missing items, and there was someone there moaning that they had no bread.

We're in the Midlands. As others have said, there is food available, just not necessarily the items items people might want to buy. It's ages since I managed a trip to the supermarket and got everything on my list!

There was literally No semi skimmed milk. My dh went to various shops and there was none.

Not noticed any difference in Northern Ireland

I'm making sure that if I work late, I have the makings of a meal in, so that I'm not dependent on just calling into a shop on my way home. I'm not hoarding crates of baked beans under the bed

Odd. I don’t know why you would call that “stocking up”, what you describe is just normal shopping that most people do.

@EndoplasmicReticulum

Asda had everything I wanted except fizzy water. I am drinking wine instead.

The sacrifices we have to make....😂

I live just out of London but inside to M25. I go to Aldi no shortages whatever then I go to a very large Asda and there are some shelves that are minimal. What I mean is that like in Aldi maybe only 1 or 2 choices of a product rather than the choice of 3 or 4 or more of the same thing usually there, meh.

@pointythings

It's pretty bad here too - even when items are available, there are only a few of each thing so they run out. There are many shelves which have boards on stating that this product is out of stock - not handwritten notes, solid printed cardboard things clearly intended for longer term use.

But people voted for this.

I'm no Brexiteer but the shortages are more as a result of supply chain issues due to Covid. Our food items are produced and sourced from around the world and one link in the chain affected by Covid closures in one country screws up the supply chain

@BewareTheBeardedDragon

Home Counties here, middle sized town, the only empty shelves I have seen recently were in Tesco metro when they hadn't yet had their fresh food delivery lorry for the day. Later shelves were packed again. No probs getting what I want each week.

Same kind of town here, south central England. Sainsbury’s is empty in several sections, no rhyme or reason to which sections will be empty when you next go. Random sections have everything missing - one week there might be no cola at all, the next week cherry coke has made an appearance but any kind of honey is non existent. Salad and veg isn’t too bad, but if you want a pack of pain au chocolat or salted peanuts it’s totally hit and miss as to whether anything at all will be in that section.

I'm in the northwest and it's a huge problem here. Our local co op constantly has little or NO fruit or veg lately. The last few days an entire aisle has been completely devoid of any fresh meat or fish. Apparently it's a supply chain issue.

@CraftyGin

People haven't noticed because it's not true.

This has to be the most batshit bonkers comment I e read tonight. There are at least 50/60 comments from people saying it is a thing because like me - they have seen it with their own eyes. !! Many comments from people in supermarket stock ordering and supply chain saying it is a thing. Even screen shots from supermarket web sites apologising for the lack of stock. Confirming that it is a thing..

Can you explain how on Earth you come to this mind numbing comment ? Unless you are channeling your inner MAGA -esque persona in some kind of ironic way ?

Been on holiday in NW Wales for the past week. Empty fresh meat and fish sections in local co op.

No issues in Oxford. Plenty of stock unless you want vanilla bean paste…

I've tried to get frozen raspberries for the past few weeks and there's none to be had 😞

It is absolutely a thing.
My dh said to look beyond the first row of things on shelves. Right enough the shelves were fake full. Items like cans of stuff put to the front to make you feel there is stock.

I agree. No rhyme or reason to items missing.

Yes, lots of things missing in ASDA in northeast. 2 weeks ago even the juice carton section was empty apart from 3 cartons of cranberry juice. Very sparce in terms of veggie meat substitutes type of foods (I blame all the new vegans 😂). Much to my son's disgust no Haribo for 3 weeks. I realise life will go on without these particular items, but there are other empty shelves too.

I was in asda on Thursday eve and it seemed fine and stacked high, our local McColls was stacked this evening, no gaps, the coop has had a couple mentions- is it particularly chains impacted more than others I wonder?

@Lahhdjdknwbjshdhb

A few things but not significant

Isn’t this thread going to exacerbate the problem and lead to hoarding behaviour though?

If we do continue to experience significant shortages and it gets worse, then the Government are toast!! This will be their downfall.

Buckle your seatbelts for the winter of discontent 2.0!

Nah. Boris has been able blameshift worse and have people buy it. It’ll be “he’s trying his best” again.

What will make the Government toast is raising taxes or threatening pensions, as we’ve seen in recent days.

This has been an issue for months in my corner of the southeast, and has been gradual and random - one week there'll be no pasta or flour, another there'll be no baby wipes and no French cheese. The result is an unreliability of supply, and increasingly an acceptance of that unreliability.

People will tell you that it's Covid, but it's not, it's Brexit.

This was predictable, and, in fact, was predicted: medium.com/nodust-on-brexit/on-shortages-8-lessons-from-another-life-16b7bbcc00fe

@maddening

I was in asda on Thursday eve and it seemed fine and stacked high, our local McColls was stacked this evening, no gaps, the coop has had a couple mentions- is it particularly chains impacted more than others I wonder?

I don't think so. Our asda definitely has had shortages. No-one will go hungry but we are so used to having all the things we want and choice. That is the point.

[quote ShinyMagnemite]This has been an issue for months in my corner of the southeast, and has been gradual and random - one week there'll be no pasta or flour, another there'll be no baby wipes and no French cheese. The result is an unreliability of supply, and increasingly an acceptance of that unreliability.

People will tell you that it's Covid, but it's not, it's Brexit.

This was predictable, and, in fact, was predicted: medium.com/nodust-on-brexit/on-shortages-8-lessons-from-another-life-16b7bbcc00fe[/quote]
I 100% agree with this.

I haven't been able to get a whole chicken on my Asda delivery for weeks until today. Bottled water has been hit and miss. Dog food is also out of stock often. I've also noticed that own brand/smart price stuff is not in stock so costing more in branded products

Shelves full to the brim where I am.

Lots of out of stocks near me. Lack of drivers to transport stuff from depots, or so lidl tell me.