What is going on at the Grocery Stores?

a reply to: JAGStorm

I noticed it here too.

It actually seems a little worse overall than during COVID.

During COVID there were specific shortages, TP, flour, sugar.

Now there are random shortages of lots of different stuff.

Worst for my family is Gatorade, elderly Mom needs it so she doesn't faint, has had to drink a bottle a day for years, now it is a treasure hunt to find some.

Thanks to lockdowns and paying people not to work. Cumulative effect for sure.

Inflation is much much worse than they are saying in the news. Got to love the Democrats who say inflation is a good thing, well that is what Biden voters voted for isn't it?

a reply to: JAGStorm

I haven't had any trouble getting a hold of anything lately, though prices have been spiking and dipping left & right on everything fresh. As in, bought eggs for 85 cents at Aldi one week, then a buck fifty the next. That's a pretty wild near-doubling of the price, and I'm starting to see it swing wildly like that more often.

So, as for what the issue is? Multiple things.

Truckers. Not enough of them, and not enough companies willing to pay enough to make it worth it still. The GR area had pages and pages of JUST local delivery driver job ads listed on one of the news sites, it was unreal. I'm not talking about Uber or DoorDash positions, I'm talking about everything from drivers for the local distribution warehouses to the local stores to Hazmat certed waste hauler drivers. They're all in short supply across the lake here if we're to go by job listings.

That results in prices going up. Stuff's not moving, so what's available gets pricier in the interim. I've noticed some of the out-of-state fruits are getting up there in price. Though I can understand why Washington apples are running anywhere from $4 to $7 per 3lb bag, variety depending -- coupled with the trucking squeeze, the season has not been kind out there to the orchards (among others)

originally posted by: HawkEyi
a reply to: Bunch

Have you noticed how quiet ur community is?

Lol, you serious? You're not in the US, I take it? My town is as noisy and active as it's always been. My neighborhood is ALWAYS quiet, so our normal did not change in decibel level. More people are active outside, though, more hobby joggers sticking to it, more elderly speed walking the sidewalks (that's a thing here for health) Things like that. The kids in this neighborhood have always been encouraged to go outside and play, so they didn't sit on their duffs, either.

its odd how in this community where i drive to its rather quiet there is not alot of people walking even on a hot sunny day.

Compared to 2020 and before the crisis the place was packed with people and youth walking.

Maybe that "hot" part has something to do with it.

Iowa. Grocery stores look fine. It was "no sales tax day" a few days ago for back to school. Most people buy clothes that day as food already has no sales tax though.

a reply to: Nyiah

Why are you not shopping at the local farmers market and participating in gardening with a local co-op? Is this not a thing where you live?

originally posted by: drewlander
a reply to: Nyiah

Why are you not shopping at the local farmers market and participating in gardening with a local co-op? Is this not a thing where you live?

I assume this is tongue-in-cheek. If you think you're taking a jab, you're sorely mistaken.

In the event I cannot get to one of the MANY indie grocers in & around the Grand Rapids metro that deal with local area & in-state farms, I default to Aldi. I've never actually purchased a raw meat item in Aldi. I do not buy meats or produce from Meijer, Family Fare, D & W or even Costco, those are for shelf-stable/dry goods if I can't find them in the indie grocers. I don't do Kroger, because that's nowhere here in W MI that I know of (E MI has 'em, though)

Farms and orchards are not far from the metro. Most are within a 10-20 minute drive for us, and most are more than willing to sell direct -- you cannot miss the roadside signs & stands unless you're outright blind, lol.

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: JAGStorm

Driver shortages. People don't understand how important truckers are until there isn't enough of them.

I can contest to this as I working in the trucking industry.

a reply to: Nyiah

How would I be taking a jab at you asking why you do not use farmers markets and co-op? Perhaps you are contentious because I do not share your political ideologies. My politics of wanting to be left alone in general have nothing to do with my politics of wanting to buy fully ripe non-gmo produce without chemicals. I go to two farmers markets in different cities on different days of the week.

originally posted by: alexandrae
a reply to: JAGStorm

I went shopping at Trader Joe's yesterday...and the price of eggs! Three dollars a dozen. I noticed that prices went up on several items.

I am realizing I am going to have to eat less food; and drink a lot of water.

Yes, egg prices are crazy, and while I'm not crazy about powdered eggs I've done enough experimentation where you can extend your EGG STASH by using one real egg to a 2-3 parts powdered egg recipe. They taste fine and they cook up more like real eggs, just mix well as directed I add a pinch of baking soda. LOL, I have served them to family members on the down low and so far no complaints, and my family isn't shy about pointing out things wrong.

Not to mention they do great in quiche and my sister does a breakfast casserole that's the bomb. They also do great in other baking as well.

Our availability is still good it's just the prices that are off the charts

originally posted by: The2Billies
a reply to: JAGStorm

I noticed it here too.

It actually seems a little worse overall than during COVID.

During COVID there were specific shortages, TP, flour, sugar.

Now there are random shortages of lots of different stuff.

Worst for my family is Gatorade, elderly Mom needs it so she doesn't faint, has had to drink a bottle a day for years, now it is a treasure hunt to find some.

Thanks to lockdowns and paying people not to work. Cumulative effect for sure.

Inflation is much much worse than they are saying in the news. Got to love the Democrats who say inflation is a good thing, well that is what Biden voters voted for isn't it?

On the Gatorade might want to consider using powdered along with bottled to extend its usage, that is if she enjoys the original lemon-lime or orange.

Everything normal in the markets I go to. Shelves are full, plenty of toilet paper! Meat. And anything else you can think of.

a reply to: Vector99

Yep.
I work with freight and prices are beyond astronomical. Port congestion is a large deal too for manufactured goods.

originally posted by: drewlander
a reply to: Nyiah

How would I be taking a jab at you asking why you do not use farmers markets and co-op? Perhaps you are contentious because I do not share your political ideologies. My politics of wanting to be left alone in general have nothing to do with my politics of wanting to buy fully ripe non-gmo produce without chemicals. I go to two farmers markets in different cities on different days of the week.

Ahhh, I think I see what the issue is here. You appear to be hung up on the belief of farmer's markets being the only option for farm-direct. They're not, certainly not in MI. They are here, but...more artisan trinket sales than farmed goods.

I grew up in Florida, you didn't buy from stands down there because they didn't do them. They didn't sell to drive=-ups, and the orange orchards never did pick-it-yourself as far as I remember. Totally different sustenance culture going from the country's Hurricane Peninsula to the Cars & Farms Peninsula.

a reply to: Hecate666

Here in the UK Brexit has a massive part to play in the shortages.

a reply to: The2Billies

Worst for my family is Gatorade, elderly Mom needs it so she doesn't faint, has had to drink a bottle a day for years, now it is a treasure hunt to find some.

Homemade gatorade - sea salt, sugar, water look up recipes on the internet.
It is literally used in places without gatorade to up electrolytes

It actually seems a little worse overall than during COVID.

It is totally worse now!

My local grocery in Austin, TX has similarly empty shelves.

originally posted by: DreadKnock
My local grocery in Austin, TX has similarly empty shelves.

Now seeing on FB people asking for tips on stocking up...
You know once that flame starts.. ugg

Maybe this? QQ

This weekend was unreal at the supermarket, went to grab some milk yesterday afternoon and was blown away to see how crowded it was.

Not having too many food shortages like during covid.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
I went shopping a little late today.
So much was out of stock. It is really weird for my area as we didn’t even have much out of stock during the first months of Covid.
I asked the cashier what was going on and she told me yesterday they had lines
Worse than Black Friday or Christmas!
She had no clue, neither do I.

School does not start until September here, so it wasn’t back to school stuff.
Is this a rush before another shut down? Is this before they impose vaccine regulations?
Is this due to rising prices? All the above? What the heck is going on?

originally posted by: GravitySucks
Maybe this? QQ

That's a lot of doom porn for one day.

I think the best time to shop now is late morning to get everything fresh like french bread still warm, and good pickings on veggies etc... As others are saying it seems restocking is mainly at night now due to low number of workers, so what this means is going to the store around evening time and you might see just left over crap and whatever no one else wanted.