To be fed up of supermarket low stock

[BradfordGirl]

Since Christmas stock is so low in the supermarkets. I have tried different supermarkets and going at different times, it makes no difference. Today I had to go two supermarkets so I could buy bread, milk and ham - so hardly an exotic shopping list. The supermarkets all have some large empty spaces in their fruit and veg section and lots of other things missing. And trying to get eggs is not easy.
The only supermarket with good stock is the co-op. I went in as I had been a few places trying to get eggs and was a bit taken aback to see shelves fully stocked. Unfortunately it is quite expensive.
But I am getting fed up of all the other supermarkets having permanently low stock.

Yeah but why? I've been shopping at Sainsbury's for many, many years.

And I can't remember them ever lacking cucumbers. Not once. Then suddenly they didn't have them for a whole month? It doesn't suggest at very robust or reliable supply chains, does it?

I realise there are various issues at play, such as inflation and fuel costs making these crops less profitable to grow. Brexit is impacting inflation and supply chains too though, it must be noted.

There's still a drastic shortage of delivery drivers. IR35 is to blame for a lot of that as self employed drivers won't work when they get not only employee deductions but also employer deductions taken from their earnings. Rishi was told not to extend IR35 and told of the shortages it would cause re locum doctors, lorry drivers, etc., but he didn't listen and now we're paying the price.

Thats illogical.... you are saying that drivers would rather earn nothing at all, than pay an Umbrella company? (which is what i had to do, my hourly rate went back up to compensate) and you can have your hols inc in that rate which pushes it a bit more too.

The real reason is people went back to EU and especially during covid but now they cannot come back cheaply and easily...so stay where they are or in EU.

Remember, the UK never counted who came or went from EU, we have no idea how many left the workforce or not as we never knew how many casual workers there were here from EU.

We try and blame anything rather than Brexit.... like now we have higher inflation that many european countries because over 50s left the workforce..... German's inflation rate is now under 9% from over 11%, France 6%.

Yes, it is Brexit, a 100 %
I find interesting why so many people in the UK try to blame anything else.
I live in Ireland. We are your neighbours. Zero shortages in any supermarket.

There's shortages in the USA though and the price of energy and gas has risen hugely.

Other countries weren't stupid enough to impose IR35 on lorry drivers!

@Alexandra2001

Thats illogical.... you are saying that drivers would rather earn nothing at all, than pay an Umbrella company?

Those who don't have to carry on lorry driving won't. Many have found other jobs where you don't have to have the stress of driving all day, anti-social hours, irregular shifts, not knowing where you're going to be stopping for the night, etc. Many have found other jobs with better working conditions, regular hours, etc. Many older drivers have just retired early.

It's not just agency fees. If you knew anything about IR35, you'd understand that the drivers themselves now have to pay employers NIC, apprenticeship levies, etc on top of not being paid holidays, sick leave, etc. They've been shafted by a hell of a lot more than the agency fee!

Yes i do know all about the changes in ir35 and they were shit but it still possible to make good money via umbrella, i did... you are writing as if SE never paid anything at all.....

The reasons you ve now given for lack of drivers now are totally different... they retired, went to less stressful sectors.. easier hours.. nowt to do with ir35.

You obv voted to destroy the country via brexit, would be nice to take responsibility for that instead of just shifting blame?

Stop talking rubbish. I'm an accountant and have lost, literally dozens of clients because of IR35. The "employers" got away with paying below market rate because the worker got "benefits" such as avoiding NIC, and of course, the "employer" also avoided employers NIC, holiday pay, sick pay, etc - so it was a quid pro quo in favour of the "employer", with both worker and employer benefitting to some extent. Now because of IR35, "employer" doesn't want to pay more, so all the added burden/costs of IR35 are suffered by the worker, i.e. not only employee NIC but employer NIC too - added together that's 25%.

Nope, all the people i knew who changes in ir35 effected have transferred over to umbrella.. and not all SE were effected.
So what if you lost clients... that doesn't mean they left their sector... maybe you re a "rubbish" accountant?

In transport, the hours, the lack of rest facilities esp over night is one big reason we have gaps in that sector.

Like i said, EU workers returned to their home countries and they can't easily come back & transport isn't classed as a priority sector.... you surely know the visa requirements, the costs, this is why we have far worse shortages than other countries in Europe, who can move people around, we cannot.

Blame ir35 or the over 50s all you like but you can't escape the truth....

We have problems with bread. DH refuses to buy sliced and not only has the price gone up they rarely have it on Tesco and I've bought the last loaf in Waitrose. It was a shock one week when they actually delivered what we'd asked for.

Azeera decaffeinated americano Asda £6.10 a tin. Co-op £3.18. ASDA prices I noticed had soared but this much?

@BradfordGirl I assume you really are in Bradford? So is my sister, it seems to be the worst place in the country for getting stuff.. she's shopped in-store & online, equally bad, Asda diddled her out of some money (now finally sorted) & I think it was Tesco, can't remember, who were packing bread with soap powder, so all the bread had to be binned, it was so strong.. she's fast running out of suppliers..
@justasking111 I've noticed Azera prices going up & down like yo yo's too???

I noticed this when finalising the online shop yesterday! Bloody extortionate!

DH bought the Aldi version on Friday and it's really nice. And it's only £2.49.

Tesco does Aldi Price Match so when Aldi prices go up so do Tescos

You’d have noticed empty shelves in my Tesco today.
Just me on my own from morning until 6pm. That covers all the chilled food, cheese, ham, yogurts, milk and eggs I had no chance. No one on to do it tonight 🙁. There’s six cages of food left to put out.
Yesterday we had everyone including managers on it and it looked fantastic . It doesn’t take much to empty the shelves.

I get mine delivered and it comes from the hyper market not my store. One substitution ( wine ) and they’ve given me the same but a better version so happy enough.