To feel like UK shops are perpetually out of stock

[Frederita]

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone because noone else is saying anything or noticeably irritated like I am. 5 years ago, I was able to get anything within reason from a major retailer online or on the high street.

Argos was always stocked and did same day deliveries for pesky household staples that that needed a quick replacement like unexpected guests and needing extra towels but not having time to go shopping. Literally anything within reason except for seasonal things like fans which ran out (but often close to mid season with a shipment on the way to end out the season). Argos never has anything for delivery unless 300 miles away or collection 20 miles away.

And it's not just them, John Lewis, Debenham (online), M&S, small businesses, even Amazon can be sparse and everything takes 2 days now.

Now I feel like I have to try several shops for one thing and most are always out of stock. FFS even a food shop is impossible to complete in one shop regardless of price just sheer lack of availability.

Yes we had a pandemic (much expected then), Brexit and a war but am I insane for not wanting to hunt down every single thing across multiple different shops. I'm already plus sized so clothes are next to impossible already and that's all I have tolerance for - I don't want to have the same experience with my bloody food shop and common household goods too! Am I the only one experiencing this. Maybe its location specific, I'm in London if that makes a difference.

Am I really alone feeling like this?

@Oakbeam

Maybe the shelves are full in other European countries because they prepared to pay more. We have got used to cheap produce in the UK and probably aren’t yet ready to accept that we must pay more.

Nail on the head! Tesco have been screwing their suppliers for years so when suppliers have limited stock, they'll sell it to the stores who will pay more and not treat them like shit! Tesco have had this coming to them!

Supermarkets are businesses at the end of the day. Their value ranges get people into the shop, tick some boxes for appearing to care about customers, but they don't make as much profit on them so they don't produce and stock them in huge numbers.

I don't run out because I always buy extra. Yes it makes it difficult but because I cannot stand for long periods of time (even to put away the shopping or receive it) a relative does this for me so won't know what is a sub and what isn't and the driver doesn't always say, so it's just easier not to accept subs.

Again, if I had my mobility none of this would really matter, there are plenty of shops in my local area and I could easily pass through several which are next/close to each other to get all I need but I physically cannot do this so I'm heavily reliant on online shopping - so I wouldn't really notice because it wouldn't be a massive inconvenience that it is now. I think people don't appreciate how difficult it can be for people in my shoes.

Yes, they did. They had large walk in fridge and freezer rooms. Fruit & veg would be in the walk in fridge along with butter, milk, cheese, meats, etc. My father managed a branch of a national chain in the 70s and 80s. His store had an entire basement that had been converted to fridge and freezer walk in rooms - the same floor space as the shop itself, they didn't have daily deliveries of everything, more like weekly or even monthly. The upper two floors were the store rooms for non perishables, so all in all, they had 3 times as much storage space as the shop floor - that meant they weren't over-dependant on deliveries, in fact "just in time" didn't even exist - I remember him writing and posting orders to suppliers in the normal post!

Yes we had a pandemic (much expected then), Brexit and a war but am I insane for not wanting to hunt down every single thing across multiple different shops.

No, but as you say, we've had a pandemic, Brexit and a war.

Not sure what else people expected after Brexit. This was always going to be the case.

And we've not had these issues with weather in the past 20 years?

Open your eyes, of course it's Brexit.

We have biggest glasshouse in EU that provides U.K. loads of veg but energy prices have impacted

Supplier talking this morning

You know others have disabilities too, I can’t drive due to eye to brain connections being bad due to Parkinson’s.
my mobility is effected too, poor, I cope, plan and accept at times I can’t always have what I want.
With eBay, Amazon and online most things are available.

Yeah, thanks again Brexit.

I'm glad you are coping. I am not coping as well as you are, but better than most, and others in my support group are genuinely struggling as they have limited help and access. It really isn't a competition.

All of the supermarkets email with subs before delivery, presumably you can access these if you're posting on here. Makes no odds to me but if you're making life even more difficult for yourself seems weird to then moan about it.

It's strange how Brexit only causes egg shortages when there's bird flu.

And Brexit only causes tomato shortages when high energy prices coincide with adverse weather conditions.

But yeah, Brexit.

Yeah, and Brexit caused a tomato virus in Spain so shortage of tomatoes.

But the cost of fuel and (yet to affect supplies) fertiliser shortage due to Ukraine being at war will seriously affect supplies in the future.
I couldn't believe the tons of fertiliser that Jeremy Clarkson needed for a crop --it will definitely make a difference in the crops next autumn.

We have plenty of eggs round here - S Scotland. Shame supermarkets can't get their act together and ship some.

thymee
And we've not had these issues with weather in the past 20 years?
Open your eyes, of course it's Brexit.

January/February 2017
Losing the plot: courgette crisis spreads to other vegetables
British shoppers have been told that shortages of courgettes, aubergines and many salad ingredients, including lettuce and celery, will continue until spring –and that if they manage to find stock in their local supermarket they can expect to pay substantially higher prices.

www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/20/losing-the-plot-courgette-crisis-spreads-to-other-vegetables

2017
Retailers have blamed empty shelves on bad weather in Spain and Italy.
Mr Vorderman said some supermarkets were not prepared to buy courgettes at such high prices and would rather leave their shelves empty.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38666752
www.express.co.uk/news/uk/762616/vegetable-shortage-crisis-fruit-lettuce-courgette-why-explained
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4206296/Minister-insists-no-lettuce-crisis.html

Maybe the shelves are full in other European countries because they prepared to pay more. We have got used to cheap produce in the UK and probably aren’t yet ready to accept that we must pay more

This is a neat way of trying to blame us the customer. We don’t have much power by way of setting prices. If we can’t afford anything, we stop buying, we don’t barter for a below cost price. so while it may seem logical on the face of it, it is not. It’s a fallacy. We have a cost of living crisis where wages have been held down for decades and people cannot afford basics.

We don’t have the means to fight for higher wages either.

At the end of the day, we do not have a decent trade relationship with our largest trading neighbour, so super markets have no way of securing supplies. They want to protect their profits so will rather have no stock than massively over priced stock. As we also wouldn’t buy with high prices.

Brexit and a shit government are the problem here.

No fruit and veg at the local shops where I am in Northumberland aside from grapes, onions and potatoes.

DC medication consistently out of stock, manufactured in NI but they import some of the ingredients from the continent and there are delays due to Brexit and changes to imports. Several times we've had literally one dose left before the refill has arrived, on two occasions he has had none left and we've had to cross our fingers that it arrived that day (one occasion it did, another occasion the GP had to ring around and managed to get us three days worth from local hospital).

Brexit took away our insurance policy.

So it basically means that if we have a problem in our food supply chains, we don’t have a safety net. If there is bad weather etc, the EU is supplied first. That’s what the experts are saying but I understand that some may find that difficult to comprehend.

@CranfordScones yes it's a complex picture but if you think Brexit is irrelevant you're in denial.

Of course it’s Brexshit. It’s not happening in Ireland which has the same weather, and it’s not happening elsewhere in Europe, and all those places had COVID and are affected by the war in Ukraine. We’re not special little sausages and all the bad things happen to us. The difference between us and the rest of the EU is that we’re not in the EU. If it looks like a duck and it walks like a duck, it’s a duck. So stop grasping at straws and pretending it’s not.

And whoever’s quoting the Daily Fucking Express as evidence that it’s not, that’s what got us into this fucking mess in the first place. The Daily Express is such a shitrag that even Wikipedia refuses to accept it as a reference. It’s just a propaganda instrument.

👏👏👏👏

We're reliant on produce like tomatoes and cucumbers from Spain because we didn't plant tomatoes and cucumbers this year due to the cost of growing them (heat, fertiliser, etc). If only we hadn't instigated an exit from a trading bloc that has contributed to increased production costs...? Then when bad weather or whatever has hit Spain, they prioritise themselves and the EU for what produce they have managed to grow. If only we hadn't voted ourselves out of that priority club...? Then when there is some that can be exported it gets held up in crossing because and sits in a lorry until its next to no good so it either ends up remaining in the South East because it can't stand further travel and still be saleable or it gets wasted. If only we hadn't made imports more difficult...?

Anyone saying Brexit has nothing to do with this situation is ignoring the massive fucking elephant shitting in the middle of the room.

But if there is a shortage of fruit and veg for any reason, then EU countries will sell to each other as the primary customer rather than us. So stock runs out before we get any. So yes - Brexit.

A food shop is not impossible to complete. Choose an alternative or go without.

YABU.

It’s been bad for years. Stores have held as little stock as they can since long before brexit and telling us to order online instead.

Part of the salad shortage is due to the obscenely high power costs. We rely on heated greenhouses and many growers can’t afford to run them.