Panic buying

[woodenhead]

22 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

 

But this was surely foreseeable. It has happened before when similar events have struck. Social media may have aggravated it a bit.

 

So the very first thing that Govt should have done was take some control of the food network to ensure that the vulnerable and the key workers would not have any problems in this regard.

 

I don't want to make this political. In most regards, I think the Govt is doing very well, but they tripped up badly on this, most basic, requirement. 

I'm not a fan of Boris, but I actually think the Government is doing a reasonable job - they are slowly widening the distancing actually in a sensible manner - if they had gone all in I think it would have been pandemonium, as it is people have been relatively accepting of each turn of the screw.  With each new restriction also seems to come some additional financial help, something I don't think many people would have previously expected of a recent Tory Government.

 

With regards the panic buying, it is the fault of the people not the government, there was no need to do it but people being people panic.  Personally I blame the supermarkets themselves for not acting sooner and just simply letting people go mad which only make the matter worse.

[runs as required]

11 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Just where exactly do you think you will be allowed to go with it?!!

Mike.

One worry I had was having to drive across next week to a Oncolology appointment 40 minutes away with associated difficulties of impossible car parking at the hospital.

instead, the Consultant has rung to say don’t come to us, we will ring you with the latest CT scan results and discuss how we ‘go forward’ (wife said she’d said) at the time of the face to face appointment. 
I was well impressed - can’t imagine Sir Lancelot Spratt deigning to do that !

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

13 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

...I do wonder if the seemingly general lack of skills (and interest) in cooking ...

There's ample interest in cooking, food preparation and presentation to impress. Expensive ingredients, wasteful technique, oh it's wonderful to look at and very good to eat. Remember Douglas Adams succinct summary of the three stages which intelligent lifeforms go through: how shall we eat?, why do we eat?, where shall we have lunch (today)? That last the diet of plenty, exactly where we are, lucky us.

 

What is lacking is widespread knowledge of making a little go a long way. It's not really new, the governments of the day had to organise considerable educational effort twice in C20th to get the population up to speed on this.

[jjb1970]

Food porn as opposed to cooking.

[melmerby]

33 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Just where exactly do you think you will be allowed to go with it?!!

 

Mike.

Anywhere you like as long as you don't meet anyone else there!

[Fat Controller]

5 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Food porn as opposed to cooking.

Culinary voyeurism? I wonder how many people actually cook anything from the latest (insert name here) offering, or does it just remain on the coffee table, to impress visitors?  I'm proud to say that most of my collection do have thumb-prints and other indications of use..

[ejstubbs]

4 hours ago, Anglian said:

My plan is to keep doing to-up shopping, a few items every now and then, if I'm passing a supermarket, rather than trying to do a weekly shop.

 

That was my plan for the last couple of weeks.  The trouble is that as stocks have been depleted, "little and often" has become "very, very little and not that often either".  There is a limit on how many times I am prepared to 'pop in' to a supermarket to see if they have the few things that were are on the verge of running out of.  And it surely can't be helpful to have to keep popping out of the house on the off chance when we are supposed to be taking steps to minimise social contact.  (And tell that to folks blocking the aisle in Tesco yesterday while trying to decide whether or not to buy the last tin of mixed pulses ever produced by western civilisation.  Yes, you who seemed to think it was the height of temerity to ask if it might be possible to leave enough room for other shoppers to pass at a safe distance.)

[ejstubbs]

4 hours ago, beast66606 said:

He also said the team - again his branch - were pushing hard for regulars to get priority (behind those in real need of course) as the regulars will be needed once the crisis is over and the "Johnny come latelys" vanish back into the shadows.

 

Said team should perhaps bear in mind that a fair proportion of those "Johnny come latelies" will be regular customers of the physical store who have had to resort to booking deliveries or click-and-collect because the shelves in the shop are so bare.  That applies in spades to both the nearest Sainsbury's to me - or would if any delivery or click-and-collect slots were available.

 

IMO talk of favouring 'regulars' and "local shops for local people" is pretty much the polar opposite of the idea of a nation working together to cope with a crisis.  Yes, I get that it's a reaction to the unbelievably selfish and stupid behaviour of a minority, but there are simpler and less potentially divisive steps that can and indeed already are being taken to curtail the activities of the greedy and terminally inconsiderate e.g. limiting quantities that can be bought.

 

4 hours ago, beast66606 said:

The regular guy said that - at least in his Sainsburys - the limit on the vans had been lowered meaning they can take less out with them

 

I'm sure I read somewhere (sorry, I can't provide a reference just now: my Google fu must need recharging) that the retailers were asking for the limits to be relaxed, as the vans typically carry less weight than they are approved for.  (Although part of that may be due to the vans having to have two or three different temperature-controlled sections which might not all get used optimally).  Grant Shapps has already signed off on a temporary relaxation of the drivers' hours regulations for grocery deliveries only  (reference, near the bottom of the article).

 

[Butler Henderson]

I do little and often all the time, rarely spending over £10 anywhere (bottle of whisky excluded), partly due to my food allergy which basically requires a visit to all local stores to get a reasonable balanced and varied supply of food. It does mean I have a good understanding of where to buy in terms of price and quality in terms of normal goods  that are not allergic and also any unexpected bargains are picked up.  Its quite clear the bigger stores are getting hammered unnecessarily by what can only sensibly described as lunatics who frankly do need locking away and the smaller stores still have stocks of what is sold out elsewhere (proved by a hunt for bananas earlier in the week). Just hoping to find by a week on Wednesday a gulten free toastie loaf - not seen one for over a week which is barking as at nearly £3 a loaf you would not buy one unless you needed to.

Edited March 21, 2020 by Butler Henderson

[Sidecar Racer]

 

So there has been a boost in sales of freezers in the last few weeks/days . Obviously

for the vultures to be able to store more food . So in a few months when hopefully this

has all calmed down , what will they do with an appliance that cost money to  buy , money

to run and more money to stock and is no longer needed ??????

[Butler Henderson]

10 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

So there has been a boost in sales of freezers in the last few weeks/days . Obviously

for the vultures to be able to store more food .

Hopefully they will have missed how much is use within 1 month of being frozen and suffer severe food posioning

[melmerby]

3 minutes ago, Butler Henderson said:

Hopefully they will have missed how much is use within 1 month of being frozen and suffer severe food posioning

Not true.

Most thing keep at least 3 months, sometimes much longer, even then the time limit is more to do with taste & texture of the product rather than safety.

Edited March 21, 2020 by melmerby

[melmerby]

16 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

So there has been a boost in sales of freezers in the last few weeks/days .

I've got a spare freezer (and fridge), not currently in use

[melmerby]

57 minutes ago, Fat Controller said:

Culinary voyeurism? I wonder how many people actually cook anything from the latest (insert name here) offering, or does it just remain on the coffee table, to impress visitors?  I'm proud to say that most of my collection do have thumb-prints and other indications of use..

Madhur Jaffrey's cookery books have been well used as do Claudia Roden's, plus one or two others.

[Ian Hargrave]

24 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

So there has been a boost in sales of freezers in the last few weeks/days . Obviously

for the vultures to be able to store more food . So in a few months when hopefully this

has all calmed down , what will they do with an appliance that cost money to  buy , money

to run and more money to stock and is no longer needed ??????

 
Ebay ?

[cactustrain]

We all moan about the Nanny State, but to be honest the last few weeks have shown that people can't be trusted. I'd like to see ration cards back. We'd all be a lot healthier, they'd be less waste and you'd be sure of getting your supply. The virus doesn't scare me at all - people panicking does.

[Shedman5]

31 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

So there has been a boost in sales of freezers in the last few weeks/days . Obviously

for the vultures to be able to store more food . So in a few months when hopefully this

has all calmed down , what will they do with an appliance that cost money to  buy , money

to run and more money to stock and is no longer needed ??????

 

 

My neighbour took delivery of two large chest freezers  during last week which went in the garage. No sign of him filling them yet, I think they are  intended for his wife and mother in law (who lives with them)!

[Legend]

1 hour ago, woodenhead said:

I'm not a fan of Boris, but I actually think the Government is doing a reasonable job - they are slowly widening the distancing actually in a sensible manner - if they had gone all in I think it would have been pandemonium, as it is people have been relatively accepting of each turn of the screw.  With each new restriction also seems to come some additional financial help, something I don't think many people would have previously expected of a recent Tory Government.

 

With regards the panic buying, it is the fault of the people not the government, there was no need to do it but people being people panic.  Personally I blame the supermarkets themselves for not acting sooner and just simply letting people go mad which only make the matter worse.

Yep agree with that . Position became bad last  weekend . I think had the supermarkets acted then restricting to say 2 items  then it would have been much more equitable .

 

Generally I think govt handling it well , gradually ramping up measures with scientific basis . I just hope they got it right. Even Nicola Sturgeon who Idelogically I’m totally opposed to I think is delivering clear straight messages , like last night if you are tempted to go out one last time Don’t! . 

[melmerby]

35 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

So there has been a boost in sales of freezers in the last few weeks/days . Obviously

for the vultures to be able to store more food . So in a few months when hopefully this

has all calmed down , what will they do with an appliance that cost money to  buy , money

to run and more money to stock and is no longer needed ??????

 

10 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

 
Ebay ?

Like the toilet rolls and baked beans now being listed.

Probably not panic buying at all just out to fleece the rest.

[jjb1970]

For NHS workers in Milton Keynes, the Tesco Extra mega store at Kingston will open at 9am tomorrow for Tesco and NHS staff with ID cards to give them an hour before opening the floodgates.

[Sidecar Racer]

17 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

 
Ebay ?

 

Buyer must collect .

[Enterprisingwestern]

28 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Madhur Jaffrey's cookery books have been well used as do Claudia Roden's, plus one or two others.

 

A bit chewy though, unless cooked with plenty of sauce?

 

Mike.

[crompton 33]

We have just taken the dog for a walk on the seafront  then into town. What did we see Toilet rolls pks of 12 white . Out side  a small shop on the pavement. No we did not get them we have some in doors.  Seem's small shop's have more then some supermarkets. Aldi had loads of veg in store today. They had milk but no eggs.

Edited March 21, 2020 by crompton 33

[polybear]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Just where exactly do you think you will be allowed to go with it?!!

 

Mike.

 

Anywhere you like, as long as you stay at least 2m off the other guy's back bumper...

 

56 minutes ago, Sidecar Racer said:

 

So there has been a boost in sales of freezers in the last few weeks/days . Obviously

for the vultures to be able to store more food . So in a few months when hopefully this

has all calmed down , what will they do with an appliance that cost money to  buy , money

to run and more money to stock and is no longer needed ??????

 

Implement a rule which states that the delivery driver won't offload a new freezer unless there's an old one for collection.  Wasted journey's to be chargeable, too.....

[Metr0Land]

I stopped at Tesco Extra Carmarthen about 10:30 this morning for a few top up fresh items.

 

Car park about half full.  Generally people were shopping with small trollies rather than the larger ones, and generally not over-full.

 

Medical section was well depleted but supplies of most things available in small numbers (except of course sanitiser).  No Andrews but presumably people need now to generate a need to use the toiler paper they've been stockpiling.

 

Fruit and veg generally ok though low stocks of potatoes.  Fresh milk generally ok but not all types of milk available in all sizes.

 

Presumably due to the early closure of schools, the swarm of locusts had stripped tea, coffee, crisps and similar snacks, chocolate biccies, and UHT milk was pretty depleted (some red/skimmed available in low numbers, and no ready made custard to be had.

 

All in all not bad, the things that had been stripped should be available in local supermarket, and prob will be in Tescos early next week.  Nothing like the scenes we've seen from large city supermarkets (esp London).  The again, west Wales has always been quite isolated from the rest of UK.