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?

Every time I go food shopping i come home in a huge mood. Everyone seems to be the same. Stressed with the high prices and low stock. Saying that I haven’t noticed I can’t get anything else. Amazon seems to be the go to place and pretty much everything I want, I can get.

Hope Cameron is somewhere equally frustrated at a lack of tomatoes for his lunch today.

One of the school run dads work for Warburtons and said that Tesco refused to pay the price post Covid for their bread. Threatened to take the brand off the shelves and they said okay. I assume it got worked out in the end though 🙈

Thankfully I have only had one instance with out of stock medication and was told to come back the following week, when it was available. Luckily another pharmacy had it, but, a lot of people are reliant on my regular pharmacy for deliveries so they would have to wait. I got someone to pick up for me. DC also had some trouble getting antibiotics earlier in the year.

It's our new normal I guess.

Brexit crew will be along shortly to say there’s nothing to see here and it’s the same in mainland Europe or some mumblings about Ukraine but they haven’t run out of tomatoes in France or Germany.

When you respond with facts their last line of attack will be ‘at least Sunak knows what a woman is’. Pathetic traitors.

Also this post wasn't in reference to the salad shortage, as I was travelling the day prior and sleeping most of yesterday as I'm on holiday. But just the amount of prep work it took to get a few staples before I travelled.

Funny that it was topical that yesterday as well. Hopefully we can start admitting what a shit show Brexit has been for us all.

Those saying eat seasonally - out of season fruit and veg are most affected, but traditional winter veg are also affected like parsnips and swede. The only things I can always get are apples, carrots, potatoes and grapes.

Look what we’ve been reduced to due to the votes of the elderly, racists, the spiteful, the unemployed and thick people.

I cook mainly from scratch so those saying use recipe books are being insulting. And it was not like this in the 70s. There was less choice but you could consistently get what the shop sold. Now you take your chances.

I'm sure you consider yourself a left leaning socialist and a liberal thinker. But seriously, have a word with yourself. "The thick?" Come on!

What gives you the right to judge anyone else?

What gives you the right to judge anyone else?

I guess, it's when they take away my European citizenship.

YANBU - but that's because of Brexit and the pandemic. Mostly Brexit. That's what happens when you leave a customs union and have to negotiate everything separately or become more expensive/difficult to work with.

'Endlesssummer2022 · Today 10:17
Look what we’ve been reduced to due to the votes of the elderly, racists, the spiteful, the unemployed and thick people.
I'm sure you consider yourself a left leaning socialist and a liberal thinker. But seriously, have a word with yourself. "The thick?" Come on!
What gives you the right to judge anyone else?'

Not all of them were thick, just ill-informed or selfish. But yeah, the older generation and racists did vote for Brexit.

I'd be pissed off too if I'd have lost My European nationality...

ShandaLear
Of course it’s Brexit. It’s not happening in Ireland which has the same weather

Definitely says Ireland here:

www.esmmagazine.com/fresh-produce/britain-ireland-facing-tomato-shortage-after-overseas-harvests-disrupted-233323

www.breakingnews.ie/business/fruit-and-vegetable-shortage-due-to-poor-weather-in-spain-irish-retailers-say-1436373.html

and it’s not happening elsewhere in Europe

This supermarket in the Netherlands has a shortage of bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and iceberg lettuce due to bad weather in Spain (16 Feb 2023);

www.freshplaza.com/europe/article/9503487/no-end-to-cauliflower-shortage-in-sight-yet/

Nope, I do not consider myself left leaning. I’m socially liberal in a live and let live way but relatively centre right economically. I understand a strong economy is fundamental and underpins everything else. Without money, we have nothing but a breakdown in society. I would never vote to damage our economy. Brexit was madness.

I'm currently in Italy and popped into the supermarket for bits for a picnic. Extremely well stocked here. Definitely more expensive though.

Tesco did the same with Heinz. Simply stopped buying them in when Heinz raised the prices hence a shortage of Heinz tins on their shelves. Again, must have been resolved with some kind of compromise as Heinz goods are back on the shelves.

Tesco have shafted their suppliers for a couple of decades at least, so when the chips are down with shortages etc., their suppliers won't be in any rush to help them!

This is also worse with the extra costs of transport, i.e. higher fuel prices, shortage of lorry drivers due to IR35, train strikes stopping long distance deliveries of food containers up and down the country, etc. When Tesco and their like already screw their suppliers down to the last penny, there's no "give" in the supply chain when transport costs, wages etc increase!

Businesses moved online as result of the pandemic and failed to return to the norm.

The environment secretary says to eating turnips

That's not actually true (100% Remainer here) - as the Liers Leavers campaigned on us NOT leaving the Single Market. It was only when the shock of winning the referendum by a whisker blew their remaining brains out of their skulls that they went full psycho on the UK and decided they had to destroy the country and its economy by treating everything "tainted" by the EU as something to be wiped out. And they're still at it despite everything going to complete shit as a result.

Can you link to something re wanting to remain in SM?

You must have seen the Daniel Hannan "absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market’ meme, said in May 2015.

He wasn't an MP but he was a high profile Leaver and absolutely representative at the time.

I didn’t but I’m interested in the actual Brexit campaign

In the leaflets etc what was said re SM

I recall immigration being a big factor and SM means FOM

People were largely voting to stop FOM

Can't be bothered to sift through campaign literature but I doubt much of it even mentioned the single market by name. As you say, people wanted less immigration so "brexit = less immigration" was enough of a strap line.

I remember it wasn't until fairly soon before the vote than both Johnson and Gove settled the cakeism approach - "we will probably have to leave the single market but don't worry, we'll still have good 'access' to it," But then you had people like Aaron Banks, who funded a lot of the Leave campign saying we should adopt the Norway model.

Basically, whatever side you're on

Can't be bothered to sift through old campaign literature but I doubt much of it even mentioned the single market. As you say, people wanted less immigration so "brexit = less immigration" was enough of a strap line.

I remember it wasn't until fairly soon before the vote than both Johnson and Gove, when pressed, settled on the cakeism approach - "we will probably have to leave the single market but don't worry, we'll still have good 'access' to it," a sentiment that doesn't really mean anything but pretty much defined the mess of the next three years in parliament.

But then you had people like Aaron Banks, who funded a lot of the Leave campign saying we should adopt the Norway model. Even Farage, his best buddy, was sympathetic to that idea for a long time.

Whatever side you're on, it's undeniable that brexit was defined in the three years after the vote, not before it.