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.

There's deffo a shrinkage in range at our big Sainsbury's. Like odd stuff. Heinz spaghetti hoops but not ordinary spaghetti, only one variety of John west tuna pots. I mean it's not a drama but mildly irritating. Plus winter veg is all a bit crap. Manky cauliflower, squishy leeks.

I went to a family run supermarket this evening and got everything I wanted and didn’t notice any gaps on the shelves. The Tesco I usually go to is 5 minutes away from there, but I never get everything I go in there for and there’s always gaps. Not sure how much in Brexit, the time of day I go in, or supply chain issues though, as I only started going there a couple of years ago.

For much of the past few years I have done shopping for a housebound friend. Its been very different since Brexit. It's been hard to get my friend to accept it, she hasn't actually been in any shops or seen it for herself. The days when you can write out a specific shopping list or name the brands you want are gone.

If I'm given a list, and just get the closest approximation I can for specific items.

For myself I just go to the shops and choose from what is available, rather than planning exactly what I want in advance

And Broccoli. I buy it at least twice a week usually, but can't find any.

We had to get frozen this week as a broccoli pasta and Green Thai curry are on the menu this week.

Surrey Hants border with Waitrose, Sainsburys, Tesco, Lidl, Morrisons, Iceland and Aldi all within a few miles. Asda a couple of miles further on.

@catandcoffee I'm not a million miles away from you (Epsom) and I'm finding big issues with stock availability, especially in own brand ranges.

I think it varies store to store, range to range, item to item. Overall, there is definitely a country wide issue. Obviously if you can comfortably afford to upbrand or have the time/transport to visit multiple supermarkets, it's probably less of an issue than for those on smaller budgets with limited options.

Went shopping yesterday got everything required no problem, never had a problem if something is not on the shelf, no way would I hint it down. I would wait until coming home from work maybe. Otherwise I forget about it no big deal ships are open 7 days s week

Loads of big gaps of random things, but on rotation: one month I couldn’t get any tomato purée but now it’s fine. Another time yeast, and quite often different cuts of meat. Increasingly common though, is supermarkets not stocking cheaper versions of things, i.e only branded or finest ranges, so you either have to suck up the extra price or try a different shop. Cheeky bastards.

I buy our eggs from the local butcher, they always seem to have them.

For all those saying Brexit, please supply some actual evidence as opposed to the usual remoaner bollocks.

It's nothing to do with Brexit, supermarkets just aren't prepared to pay the going rate for staff or for items. They made billions during lockdown. It's about time they gave back instead of just taking all the time.

Online shops are just as bad. I had 9 substitutions in my Asda shop this weekend and I had only spent £90!

@DeepSleepPillowSpray

"so you either have to suck up the extra price or try a different shop. Cheeky bastards."

We are a business, not a charity.

Get over it or grow your own, you bastard.

Are you Tesco?

So many posts (not all!) here remind me of that amusing ‘overheard in Waitrose’ Facebook page 🙈

m.facebook.com/375139409294104/

@DeepSleepPillowSpray

I work for a major supermarket.

Do you work?

If so, and in the private sector, what is your gross margin?

@Florenz

Do you work?

If so, and in the private sector, what is your gross margin?

Supermarkets are about 4 %.

I don't mean to be rude, but there's no point in explaining the same things over and over again to people who don't want to understand.

I don't blame people for voting for Brexit, just as I don't blame the victims of any scam or con.

But it's been several years now. Anyone who wants to understand why our country is going down the pan since Brexit can use the same internet we all have access to to learn about it.

That’s not always the supermarket’s decision.
Some manufacturers make their own brands and “private label” brands - i.e. the supermarket’s own brand.
If you don’t have the possibility to make both, you may as a manufacturer make the choice to drop the supermarket own brand from your production plan.
There are many reasons at the moment why you might not have the possibility to make both.
I work with a factory in Germany. They currently have 50% of their production line staff off sick with the “non Covid lurgy”.
There are also a fuckton of problems getting raw materials too, but let’s just pick labour.
They just can’t make everything. If a manufacturer makes 90% their own brand, they’re not going to sacrifice supply on that, and losing customers, to support 10% of their business on own label.
It’s not even a cynical “fuck the poor people who need the cheap stuff” move - it’s just not their most important business.

Another impact on “cheap” versions is the rising raw material and energy prices. The graphs I see are insane! Cheap lines can be withdrawn because they’re now so expensive to produce, that they’re no longer cheap lines!

From the inside, I can tell you that neither manufacturers nor supermarkets are rubbing their hands with glee at being able to screw you with higher prices. The profit margins are reducing for both, not increasing. Some of the empty shelves you see are actually the result of some manufacturers in a stand off with supermarkets over where to spread the costs increase.

You work for a supermarket, I work for a manufacturer. I make some product in Germany. I have some hauliers who have refused my requests to deliver to the U.K. Not to negotiate up - they don’t want the work. They’ll happily pick up my loads for France. The reason they don’t want to take loads to the U.K., is that they bid for work where they can pick up return loads. The ones refusing to deliver to the U.K. tell me - too many drivers have been stuck in massive queues and paperwork hell coming back across from the U.K. I can promise the haulier I’ll commit to pay the demuerrage - my boss has stopped tracking my budget compliance! But the drivers themselves say, “no thanks”.

In the area that I work, my Brexit problems are mostly exporting from U.K., but import does come up for me.

I lost supply of a product to the U.K. for a month, because that factory in the EU received a niche ingredient from the U.K.
The small U.K. company waited until the day after border controls to say, “we have no fucking clue how to export this”. You can’t just buy it anywhere, even if you didn’t care where it came from. But due to the need to ensure safety and quality for consumers (which you as a supermarket also insist on) we had to audit the alternative supplier - which takes time.

I have other examples but they touch too much on detail of my employer’s business.

I don’t think Brexit is my main driver for current out of stocks. In my personal factory experience, it’s lack of labour (Covid and now tridemic), a fucking shit show around raw material supply which is mainly Covid and then Ukraine, ditto packaging shitshow (Covid) and pallets shitshow (Ukraine).

But Brexit is definitely part of the issue, and remains so. In 2023, I’m still dealing with Brexit-caused issues. I did vote Remain, I can be heard Remoaning! But the issues I deal with, impacting supply and cost, are real.

Similar problems in NZ and (from what my family tell me) Australia too. Just a shitty reality of the post lockdowns world. Production was massively impacted, it's just that the real impact is further down the line than most people realise.

I get my shopping online, either Ocado (when I want M&S stuff) or Waitrose. I never have any missing items from Ocado and with Waitrose maybe one a week, which always has a good substitute. While Ocado is a warehouse, Waitrose actually pick the items from my local store, so their shelves are obviously well stocked.

Yup it's bad in the south west also. I was in boots earlier and shelves were empty.