If you're quite comfortably off...

[ILikeyourHairyHands]

Can I suggest you do something?

Which is what I've been doing, (I may get a flaming here, maybe not).

Why not buy your food from small suppliers online? There's lots of next-day availability, it helps support small businesses, you can stay out of the supermarket and thereby ease the situation for others, and you get loads of great things to eat and drink?

What's not to like?

It might seem a bit 'let them eat cake', but I like eating nice food and I want all the small producers to still exist when this is all over. So instead of hitting the already overburdened supermarkets, get online, look for local and artisan producers and suppliers, and spend some money with them.

Lovely, and I intend to order kippers and Arbroath smokies which I love, but not a realistic prospect for regular daily grub. Thank you, though, for signposting these suppliers. I may send a couple of my elderly relatives a food gift – thought frankly it may be too good for them and they may not appreciate it.

We’ve been buying milk, eggs and veg from local small suppliers for years now. Most of my basics come from zero waste shops which are also small businesses. Even the pet food comes from a small manufacturer

It’s paying off now. I need very few things from the supermarket and what I do buy isn’t the focus of the panic buyers

DH is annoyed that I've ordered milk, eggs, and (bog standard) bread from our local milk delivery company.

I just can’t believe he is being so silly Allthegingerninja. There is no other word. Has he not seen the photos of empty shelves? He should be praising you for doing this. Actually you are lucky to have a local milk company. I use Milk and More but I don’t think they are accepting new customers.

Thanks for the links Ilikeyourhairyhands. I am hoping that independent shops get some new business out of this.

Check out Hodmedod for UK grown legumes, pulses and grains. They are delicious.

In london there are a couple of places who usually deliver to restaurants you are now delivering to folks within Zone1-4

Where I am in a small Sottish town all of the pubs and restaurants that didn't do takeaway have suddenly developed the capability.

My Dh was annoyed I'ld ordered meat from the farm shop. Tbf it was 2am in the morning and I woke him up to tell him and it's an hour away. But he's very happy with the meat now. We had been playing supermarket surprise meals and last nights 'meat' was chicken nuggets as that was all the supermarket had left.

Thanks for the idea OP. I just sent my parents a link to a local milk delivery service that also does bread and eggs. I was worrying about them having to battle the crowds at the shops

And Berry Brothers are great if you need booze.

Wine merchants sound a little bit 'other' to many people. BUT if you like wine and spirits and booze in general, it's not a bad idea to forge a relationship with suppliers. I don't buy massive amounts, but you can have a relationship with suppliers and producers even with a modest spend. You can have a conversation with a person about your needs.

And then you can start buying on bond, which can be done cheaply but opens up your wine world.

It doesn't cost much to make relationships with people who can supply you with wonderful things. And once you make a relationship, you are treated very well.

It's symbiotic.

Symbiotic.
Would you further explain ?
Mary Shelley may be twitching her toes now, not least for the so called spelling mistakes.

I think you know what symbiotic means Sam.

Or maybe you don't.

I don't think Mary Shelley would be the least concerned.

I think that a better idea would be to support our local cafes and restaurants through this crisis by ordering take away food. This will be a life line for them if they are to survive.

QVC, the shopping channel, sells food. It’s mainly gourmet pies and fancy biscuits from what I have seen.

I think it's a good idea. We are doing the same. We are going to save over £200 a month in petrol alone plus the money we save by not actually being able to go anywhere or do anything. £4 for an artisan home baked sourdough table loaf is something I would never normally spend but I think we might need to start enjoying different luxuries.

We’re having to self isolate, ends next Saturday, well, hopefully.

I’m a type one diabetic, I’m also dairy free (as is my four year old). In the house we only have a small amount of rice and some seasoning. I usually shop with Ocado, I book slots by sticking loads of beer in a shopping cart, so I do have £50 of beer that arrived yesterday.

We have been eating nothin but takeaway since wednesday. As a type one diabetic who can only eat 100g or carbohydrates a day it’s a nightmare, a very expensive nightmare. I have to order a tonne of sides as most takeaway meals are lacking in veg, as a diabetic I need lots of veg to fill me up due to the lack of carbs.

Since Wednesday we have spent almost £300 on food. I’m earn a decent amount, my boyfriend who doesn’t usually live here lost his job on Monday. So in the mean time I’m covering bills at his rented property so his housemate who is having to self isolate for at least 12 weeks is safe.

There are also online Greek, Spanish, Italian and French delis all based in the UK.

I got my parents a massive hamper of Italian food for Christmas and it didn't cost much more than a normal food shop. They also had shower gel and household cleaning products.

SimonT is your boyfriend able to shop atm? Can he leave shopping outside your door?

@MarshaBradyo He is living here at the minute as he was here when my son developed a cough, due to his housemates health (cystic fibrosis) if he lived there he would also have to self isolate for at least 12 weeks if he left here after 14 days of SI.

Oh I see. Very hard. Are places like Mindful Chef still taking orders? Much healthier than takeaway. Hello Fresh even. Just looked but can’t tell if they have closed to new orders.

I just restarted up my simply cook direct debit. I really enjoyed making their lovely curries and tasty pastas but got out of the habit. I would forget to update the box myself and end up with random recipes I didn’t fancy but will make a concerted effort to pick the ones I fancy. Just have to add all the fresh produce yourself which I will try and get from my local farm shop.

Thanks for this OP! Some excellent links and good ideas for those for whom the issue is supply rather than £££

I have bought coffee from a local hipster roastery, popped through my door half an hour after ordering, and have discovered wonderful local butcher who sells bread. I have also revived my Abel and Cole account for basic fruit and vegetables. Just need to find (reasonable) dairy providers (with available stock) so will look for a local milkman. I’m actually quite enjoying hunting down food and creating dinners from whatever I find - my inner 1950’s housewife is breaking out! It is quite time consuming though.
I have heard that Borough Market suppliers are delivering and can recommend Neals Yard Dairy and The Ginger Pig. It’s nice to think that the small suppliers may do well out of this.

I may be comfortably off, but am not about to pour good money into an expensive farm shop shaped hole in the ground at a time when future income is less certain. Plus the fact they are three times as far away as the supermarket, if something was walking distance that would be another matter.

The large vegetable suppliers are national companies, not local businesses, and demand is so high that they aren't taking on new customers. The local delivery businesses are prioritising housebound customers, so it would seem rather selfish of me to use them when I can perfectly well take my chances with Aldi.

I'm adopting a similar strategy op. I live in a small, rural market town and we're not so much artisan and hipster but in a farming community with a network of small producers locally.

The local independent shops and markets are sourcing direct from the producers and are pretty well stocked. As a bonus supporting this network means supporting small businesses some of whom are also friends. I'm hoping it means they'll survive this particular storm and their amazing produce will still be available when it's all over.

Here's a couple who have online shops;

fenfarmdairy.co.uk/

www.samphireshop.co.uk/