Who has noticed any shortages on their store shelves? Are your shelves fully stocked? Or, are some items rarely in stock? Or, maybe your local grocer's shelves are half empty all the time?
U.S. grocery shortages deepen as pandemic dries supplies
(Reuters) – High demand for groceries combined with soaring freight costs and Omicron-related labor shortages are creating a new round of backlogs at processed food and fresh produce companies, leading to empty supermarket shelves at major retailers across the United States.
Growers of perishable produce across the West Coast are paying nearly triple pre-pandemic trucking rates to ship things like lettuce and berries before they spoil. Shay Myers, CEO of Owyhee Produce, which grows onions, watermelons and asparagus along the border of Idaho and Oregon, said he has been holding off shipping onions to retail distributors until freight costs go down.
Myers said transportation disruptions in the last three weeks, caused by a lack of truck drivers and recent highway-blocking storms, have led to a doubling of freight costs for fruit and vegetable producers, on top of already-elevated pandemic prices. “We typically will ship, East Coast to West Coast – we used to do it for about $7,000,” he said. “Today it’s somewhere between $18,000 and $22,000.”
Grocery store shortages are back. Here are some of the reasons why
No, you're not imagining it. Some grocery store shelves are bare again, conjuring bad memories of spring 2020 for many.
Social media is rife with images of empty supermarket aisles and signs explaining the lack of available food and other items. Stores such as Aldi have apologized to customers for the shortages.
The reasons for the dwindling stock are numerous, according to food industry analysts, and include some issues that impacted retailers at the beginning of the pandemic as well as challenges that have cropped up more recently.
"We're really seeing the perfect storm," Phil Lempert, editor of the website SupermarketGuru.com, told NPR.
Lempert said the Northeast is facing some of the worst shortages now, due in part to recent winter storms that snarled transportation routes, but that could change with the weather.
Even your backup grocery store is struggling to stay fully stocked
(CNN) -- Frustrated shoppers are already dealing with unpredictable product shortages and empty shelves at their favorite grocery stores.
But if they're hoping to pivot to a neighborhood convenience store to fill in some everyday necessities, they might be out of luck there, too.
Convenience stores typically serve as an ideal substitute to a grocery store when all that's needed is a case of water, a couple bags of chips or maybe just a carton of milk.
That makes local shops perfect for the quick mid-week, fill-in graocery trip, said Arie Kotler, president and CEO of Arko Corp., which operates over 1,400 small format convenience stores in 28 states.
But convenience store operators say the ongoing supply chain disruptions have also impacted their ability to adequately meet the fill-in needs of shoppers in larger cities and, more importantly, the daily essential needs of customers in secondary markets and rural areas where a convenience store might be the only store in town for food items.
US food supply chain is strained as virus spreads Shutdown of Sioux Falls, S.D., pork plant an example of the disruption caused by the coronavirus.
The nation’s food supply chain is showing signs of strain, as increasing numbers of workers are falling ill with the coronavirus in meat processing plants, warehouses and grocery stores.
The spread of the virus through the food and grocery industry is expected to cause disruptions in production and distribution of certain products like pork, industry executives, labor unions and analysts have warned in recent days. The issues follow nearly a month of stockpiling of food and other essentials by panicked shoppers that have tested supply networks as never before.
Industry leaders and observers acknowledge the shortages could increase, but they insist it is more of an inconvenience than a major problem. People will have enough to eat; they just may not have the usual variety. The food supply remains robust, they say, with hundreds of millions of pounds of meat in cold storage. There is no evidence that the coronavirus can be transmitted through food or its packaging, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Seriously, folks - it's time to get over your fear of life, and allow people to go back to work. If people ain't makin' bacon, there won't be any bacon bits to put on your dandelion and poke salad. That is, when the dandelions and poke come into season. The only edible thing showing any life around my house, is the garlic. Mebbe it's time I bought a couple piglets and a calf? Maybe a sheep? That will be almost-free meat. They'll fatten up nicely all by themselves!
time for lockdowns to end
Who has noticed any shortages on their store shelves? Are your shelves fully stocked? Or, are some items rarely in stock? Or, maybe your local grocer's shelves are half empty all the time?
https://yournews.com/2022/01/14/2282520/u-s-grocery-shortages-deepen-as-pandemic-dries-supplies/
https://www.npr.org/2022/01/12/1072462477/grocery-shortage-shelves-reasons
https://www.cbs58.com/news/even-your-backup-grocery-store-is-struggling-to-stay-fully-stocked-02-06-22
https://www.agweek.com/business/us-food-supply-chain-is-strained-as-virus-spreads
Seriously, folks - it's time to get over your fear of life, and allow people to go back to work. If people ain't makin' bacon, there won't be any bacon bits to put on your dandelion and poke salad. That is, when the dandelions and poke come into season. The only edible thing showing any life around my house, is the garlic. Mebbe it's time I bought a couple piglets and a calf? Maybe a sheep? That will be almost-free meat. They'll fatten up nicely all by themselves!
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