The biggest - and perhaps most surprising - gap in Old Home is oatmeal. Simply put, there is almost none available, at least in the 2.5 pound container. Not this trip, not the trip two weeks ago. And was was left was both smaller and much more pricey (I made the mistake of thinking a smaller bag of more "custom" oatmeal was on sale. Turned out it was not; no way I am spending $6 on 12 ounces of steel cut oats, no matter how many awards they won in Ireland). I had no ideas oats were either so popular or so out of stock - which is a bit worrisome to me, as oatmeal is one of foods I practically eat every day.
Another odd one was peanut butter - not that it was not there at all, but it seems to have greatly increased in price for even the "generic" store varieties. And it had packaging size outages as well, especially in the national brands.
A third odd noticeable lack was in spinach (another one of those foods I eat every day). There was a single bag (which I scooped up). No plastic containers large or small and no other containers. This is a little reflective of New Home, where salads are often out of stock (but spinach is not).
There are the ones I specifically noticed, mostly because these are the ones that I reliably but when I am there. But even in the ones I notice that I do not buy, I often find that shelves are often half filled or just faced to the edge.
It is a single data point of course, and not inherently useful. But the fact that 2.5 years later I can still see gaps and holes is not a comforting sign.
Oatmeal has been in short supply at our local grocery and the Aldi in the closest "big" town. We can usually find it, but there are only a few containers on the shelves. As far as peanut butter, I don't think it ever recovered after the Jif recall. And just like the peanut butter, they have a few of each, but... Makes me glad I kept my Jif!
ReplyDeleteSbrgirl, the feedback just on this article suggests to me that oatmeal is not largely grown here, or not enough to supply our needs - which is unfortunate, as I eat it every day. Peanut butter for me is a couple of spoonfuls as a mid-day snack; that said, it is one of the most popular breakfast foods in our household.
DeleteI am trying to build a non-perishable larder here at The Ranch, and things like oatmeal and peanut butter fit into that.
Curious. Perhaps being in different regions with different suppliers and/or distribution centers makes a difference(?) The new normal of random product outages are common here, but not consistent from store to store. A few weeks ago one of my regular stops was completely out of eggs and butter. Another was totally out of potatoes. At the very least, it motivates me to continue picking up an extra can of this and an extra jar of that every time I shop. Just in case.
ReplyDeleteIt is curious Leigh. I am fortunate (?) in that I have two geographic locations to make observations on. The oatmeal is the surprising one to me - it may make it worth a trip to the Large Members Only retailer to get the bigger box and bring it out in my suitcase (Food runner - that sounds like scary science fiction from the 1970's that has come to pass). Lots of ready made salad and greens shortages in both places as well.
DeleteLike you, I am working on building up a larder here (as well as at home). Here it almost all has to be non-perishables, given I am only here one week a month and the fact that if for some reason the power were to go out, I would have a mess to come back to.
Oatmeal's price has skyrocketed in price here as well. Available but the large store brand bulk container has nearly tripled in price. I often eat it with a tuna envelope for breakfast. I know - sounds strange, but it is very tasty. Like rice, oatmeal is enhanced by the flavor of the tuna.
ReplyDeletePeanut butter is expensive too. I enjoy sliced apples with a dab of peanut butter.
That does not sound odd to me at all - I eat dry oatmeal with yogurt (mostly homemade) and protein powder at least 6 days a week. Tuna sounds interesting!
DeleteThanks for the feedback on oatmeal. This is something I should learn more about.
Welcome to the Soviet Union TB, empty store shelves, wistful looking people. I'm jesting of course........but.....yet......thanks to the pandemic..... Remember buy cheap and stack deep.
ReplyDeleteYou are not wrong Nylont12, and I suspect the days and weeks to come will demonstrate it all the more.
DeleteI don't know if it is shortages, grocery stores stocking less, or demands, but I have run across a few things in recent weeks I couldn't find. I couldn't find frozen pie crusts to create some easy pies for an event and the following week they only had one package. Earlier this week my normal supplier of whole salmon fillets didn't have any. Instead I had to buy some that were already portioned up and shrink wrapped and thus were more expensive especially considering I was going to grind them up and make salmon cakes. I sometimes notice bare spots here and there on shelves but they are usually in the portions of the store I don't shop but just pass through, like canned and boxed convenience foods.
ReplyDeleteEd, the only reason I can affirmatively comment the products I did is because I regularly buy them (and thus, indirectly track them). The other observations are more out of the corner of my eye sorts of things.
DeleteI would love to be a fly on the wall at a major grocery chain right now to hear the issues they are facing with supply.
I happen to be pretty good friends with a grocery store manager. The next time I corner him, I'll have to ask if I can remember too.
DeleteBig box stores have become my friend. Started stocking up when the 'plague' was upon us. Can, box or otherwise. I found the biggest difference in price of meats. 80/10 hamburger is $4.98 at WM and $3.78 at Sam's. All forms of meats are usually a dollar per pound cheaper. Having no trouble with oatmeal or Jif. But stock deep has been my motto these past 2 years.
ReplyDeleteIt is odd GL - At least in our area, the Big Box store is of limited value, price wise. Partially because of the fact that in some cases you have to buy a volume we cannot easily store (Thinking meat here). That said, I will give it another look the next time I am there.
DeleteSeems like any drink that contains sugar over High Fructose corn death is just not being produced these days either.
ReplyDeletePP - Interesting. I scarcely drink them, although I have to admit I have developed a taste for the real sugar drinks when I have them as a treat. I wonder where the sugar is being diverted to.
DeleteI suggest alcoholic spirits. Just spitballin, but kinda makes sense.
DeleteTom762
See if you have a bulk market near you, TB; one that sells things like oatmeal by the pound instead of by the container. My wife buys organic oatmeal that way. She scoops it into a bag and it gets weighed at the checkout. We swore off Quaker's "organic" oatmeal when it was discovered that the oats were being sprayed with Roundup just prior to harvest to quicken drying! "Organic?" Yeah; right.
ReplyDeleteProduce has been the big hit & miss out here in the Wild West, which is strange, given a lot of it is grown out here. What is available is expensive. If it's not expensive it's crap.
Buy ahead any time you see something you use a lot of or will be using in the near future, especially if it's "on special." That'll give you the cushion you need to weather the ebbs and flows of the "supply chain." At very least you're paying for tomorrow with today's dollars. "Panic early and beat the rush!"
An FYI; the rice harvest in California was less than HALF of usual this year. There's been chatter about this on the ham radio for months. The story is just now seeing airtime on the MSM. If you need rice, get it now, before the Chinese scarf it all up!!!
Pete - Thanks for the recommendation. I am going to have to come up with other options (as life with oatmeal is unthinkable).
DeleteThat is strange about produce where you are. I would have assumed that the Wild West, being the originator of so much of the produce, would have a better chance of getting something. Ours, like yours, is hit and miss (leafy greens are mostly a miss).
I am coming to appreciate the wisdom of buy with today's dollars before they are worth less - which bothers me a bit in the back of my head, because that feels like a true recessionary statement. But it is what is (I always believe in panicking early).
I had not heard that about the rice harvest being that low (yet another benefit of ham radio). The telling sign for me would be if the 25 and 50 lbs bags start disappearing in the local Asian grocery stores (I should check this when I get home).
Of note (because I wondered): The top three consumers of rice are China, India, and Indonesia. All of them import rice as well as grow it domestically.
If you use rice, TB, let YOUR larder BE the destination of one of those 50lb bags of rice!
DeleteFair Pete. When we train in Japan, rice is eaten with every meal. They do not seem to have the same aversion to carbs that the American Dietary establishment does.
Delete