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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be fed up of supermarket low stock

266 replies

BradfordGirl · 08/01/2023 18:55

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.

OP posts:
romany4 · 09/01/2023 18:05

Florenz · 08/01/2023 22:55

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.

This ^^
And the price rises every week see ridiculous.
70p rise in Brown sauce and oxo cubes this week...no reason for it

Cuppasoupmonster · 09/01/2023 18:10

Supermarkets aren’t benevolent organisations.

Food went through a historically cheap phase and now it’s rebalancing again.

Original poster
BradfordGirl · 09/01/2023 18:13

Supermarkets are businesses. They want to have full shelves to sell things. The shelves have consistently not been full for a long time. But it has got much worse since after Christmas.

OP posts:
boatyardblues · 09/01/2023 18:13

Cuppasoupmonster · 09/01/2023 18:10

Supermarkets aren’t benevolent organisations.

Food went through a historically cheap phase and now it’s rebalancing again.

This has the ring of truth. We did a self-catered holiday in Canada and I was shocked by how expensive groceries were, relative to the UK. It was something I noticed when we self-catered in Europe throughout the 2010s as well.

SpanishSalsaing · 09/01/2023 18:14

WhereIsMyRollingPin · 08/01/2023 19:03

There's one rather niche ingredient I use a lot of but it's been unavailable for weeks in three different supermarkets. A first world problem but annoying nonetheless.

"Top chefs agree that this one rather niche ingredient will change your cooking forever - but it's selling out fast"

Cuppasoupmonster · 09/01/2023 18:20

Im not doing a Jacob Rees Mogg when I say this but it’s certainly made me inspect the contents of the trolley more rather than flinging in anything I like - I’m more reluctant to waste food now, I’ll really check I don’t have something before buying it again ‘just to be sure’. The food I’m buying is also healthier as I have less money for snacks so focussing on 3 well planned meals a day. We’re average earners though so I appreciate it’s a different picture if you are a low earner

GPTec1 · 09/01/2023 18:20

boatyardblues · 09/01/2023 18:13

This has the ring of truth. We did a self-catered holiday in Canada and I was shocked by how expensive groceries were, relative to the UK. It was something I noticed when we self-catered in Europe throughout the 2010s as well.

Show quote history

Yes used to wince at the price of groceries in France a few years ago.
What i ve seen recently though is the UK 's prices have rocketed and the French ones, whilst still increasing, have not as much.

I wonder if this is due to much lower energy and fuel prices in France?

Inflation in France is considerably lower than the UK.

Nimbostratus100 · 09/01/2023 18:20

I was driven by a friend to two supermarkets this morning. I just wanted a few basics. I could not get eggs, bread or fresh milk. There were some big 4? pint bottles of milk with a best by date in 2 days. I got some veg. Not the veg I wanted, but never mind, it will do. And I got some very strange flavour of porridge, no normal porridge available.

ALso, no cat litter locally

Nimbostratus100 · 09/01/2023 18:21

i cant get myself to the shops, so I cant try again another time, I can only go at a prearranged time when a friend is free to take me

GPTec1 · 09/01/2023 18:23

romany4 · 09/01/2023 18:05

This ^^
And the price rises every week see ridiculous.
70p rise in Brown sauce and oxo cubes this week...no reason for it

Show quote history

Your views on this will be down to your vote in 2016.

But the fact is, it is now more expensive to import food from the EU than it used to be, paper work & delays at the border.

If you re an EU food exporter, the political pressure will be on to supply the EU first, UK second.

I ve seen this with other things, not just food.

Cuppasoupmonster · 09/01/2023 18:30

Also the food at cheaper supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl is just rotting the moment it hits our fridge. Anyone else have this issue?

Doyathinkhesaurus · 09/01/2023 18:40

The huge hole in the cat food section of Aldi is a thing to behold. I've been having to go several times a week to secure moggie munchies. Are there giant cats batting Aldi trucks off the motorway so they can feast?

Athenen0ctua · 09/01/2023 18:47

Cuppasoupmonster · 09/01/2023 18:20

Im not doing a Jacob Rees Mogg when I say this but it’s certainly made me inspect the contents of the trolley more rather than flinging in anything I like - I’m more reluctant to waste food now, I’ll really check I don’t have something before buying it again ‘just to be sure’. The food I’m buying is also healthier as I have less money for snacks so focussing on 3 well planned meals a day. We’re average earners though so I appreciate it’s a different picture if you are a low earner

Ours was pretty healthy when we were on a very low income as there just wasn't any money for junk food after buying the food for meals. We both ended up with an iron deficiency as I was bulking out the mince or chicken with too many lentils and cheap veg.. but other than that!

indignatio · 09/01/2023 21:06

Eggs hard to source in the French Alps after Christmas. Signs said due to avian flu

Deftandglory · 09/01/2023 21:20

I posted earlier that in our supermarket ( the largest in town but not a mega superstore) it’s staffing.
Today there were 3 of us on until 1pm. I came in at 12pm and put the milk out. We had tons of it out back but the other two can’t stop otherwise the chilled food is out in the warm too long.
I did my own cage full of random things some of which we had tons on the shelf already.
When I finished at about 2 pm I saw there was were only expensive eggs left in the egg section. So I went and filled it up. All sizes, all ranges.
If you had been in the shop at 12pm you would have noticed we were “low” on milk and eggs. Maybe worried and bought more than you needed. At 1.30pm there were no eggs. By 2pm both were fully stocked and you wouldn’t think there was an issue.

However I was on my own from 1pm onwards. I can’t do more than the cage I chose from the chiller. I picked one that seemed to have lots of fish because frankly that was looking empty. Full up when I left. But then yogurt was looking rubbish and I was going home. No one in to do chillers tonight either.

I would also say that yes there are gaps. I wanted chicken thighs for tea. No thighs. There were whole chickens, chicken wings, chicken legs, frozen thighs, pre prepared chicken , cooked chicken thighs, prices……anyway the point is there was loads of choice really. Lots of it on offer I just needed to be flexible but there’s plenty if stuff to eat.

LlynTegid · 09/01/2023 21:29

I am conflicted on this, yes I want to be able to get the food of my choosing, but equally I don't want any food to be thrown away or otherwise wasted.

verdantverdure · 09/01/2023 21:39

No joy on the broccoli or tomatoes and I tried a couple of the supermarkets twice because the poorly sick trio at home said doughnuts would make them feel better and I thought I had seen such things in Tesco earlier, but I was wrong, it was Morrisons.

Testina · 09/01/2023 21:54

romany4 · 09/01/2023 18:05

This ^^
And the price rises every week see ridiculous.
70p rise in Brown sauce and oxo cubes this week...no reason for it

Show quote history

No reason that you personally know.

You know how your energy bill has gone up and up? It’s the same in the Oxo and Brown Sauce factory. Supermarkets and manufacturers don’t renegotiate prices weekly. They usually have specific times when they do so, and it’s often a protracted negotiation. So that 70p increase may be because agreement was reached - based on increased manufacturing cost due to fuel price rises.

You can’t say there’s no reason for it, you don’t know that.

Alexandra2001 · 09/01/2023 22:00

Testina · 09/01/2023 21:54

No reason that you personally know.

You know how your energy bill has gone up and up? It’s the same in the Oxo and Brown Sauce factory. Supermarkets and manufacturers don’t renegotiate prices weekly. They usually have specific times when they do so, and it’s often a protracted negotiation. So that 70p increase may be because agreement was reached - based on increased manufacturing cost due to fuel price rises.

You can’t say there’s no reason for it, you don’t know that.

Show quote history

Tesco made £2bn last year, double what they did the previous year, SM petrol is almost always more expensive than independent fuel retailers, despite their far bigger purchasing power....
SM's operate a monopoly, they can put up prices on food and we have no choice, we have to buy it..... so whatever the reasons, they are doing very well out of it.

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 09/01/2023 22:26

Completely, absolutely, 100% agree. I'm so sick to death -and so is DH- of finding something we really like, buying it four or five times, then it bloody disappears for two months. AND, at least every third or fourth time we go to Morrisons or Tesco or Asda or Sainsbury's, about 1 in six items that we want is fucking well not there.

Fuck blaming Brexit. It's far enough behind us now for these stupid fuckers to have got their acts together. ALSO, Aldi and Lidl always have full shelves, and so do Iceland. It's poor management. Needless to say, we do most of our shopping in Aldi, Lidl, or Iceland now.

I also don't believe there's a single reason for the stupidly high prices. Sure they needed to go up, but the giddy heights some stuff is in SOME shops is a piss take. We are being mugged off big time.

Comedycook · 10/01/2023 09:04

I also find I am forced because of no stock to buy more expensive brands...so I usually buy supermarket own brand ketchup but it wasn't available so I had to buy Heinz...the bottle was £3.50! I usually buy Lidl own brand tampons for about a pound but they had none so I bought Tampax...£3.50 again. So £7 for a bottle of ketchup and a box of Tampax! Whereas if I'd bought the own brands would have cost me less than £2 for both!

justasking111 · 10/01/2023 12:46

Comedycook · 10/01/2023 09:04

I also find I am forced because of no stock to buy more expensive brands...so I usually buy supermarket own brand ketchup but it wasn't available so I had to buy Heinz...the bottle was £3.50! I usually buy Lidl own brand tampons for about a pound but they had none so I bought Tampax...£3.50 again. So £7 for a bottle of ketchup and a box of Tampax! Whereas if I'd bought the own brands would have cost me less than £2 for both!

So either the makers of own brands are downing tools because the big boys won't pay more. Or the big boys are milking us

GPTec1 · 10/01/2023 17:29

justasking111 · 10/01/2023 12:46

So either the makers of own brands are downing tools because the big boys won't pay more. Or the big boys are milking us

Show quote history

I don't believe consumer law on pricing is as strong here in the UK.
It would depend on where the own brand stuff is coming from and how much more mark up is available on premium vs own brand.

If someone can explain why we are still paying 50% more for fuel when oil prices have fallen right back and we still have the 5p duty cut, i'm all ears!

EwwSprouts · 10/01/2023 17:39

Been to a couple of supermarkets this weekend. Did a shop in Asda - no empty shelves, all fruit and veg, milk, eggs etc there. Then took DS shopping and had to go into super Tesco (need a receipt for the car park) and all shelves seemed full. Bought bread, soup, ham and a few bits for DS to take back to university. Didn't spot any large gaps and it was busy. All fridges were full.

Agree about price rises though.

BeginningToLookALotLike · 10/01/2023 17:48

I remember seeing people posting on Twitter that they would be happy to eat beans on toast for the rest of their lives as it was worth it because the Brexit vote had won. So I guess this is what they voted for...although they might not be able to get any bread to toast at the moment...