Panic buying

[Baby Deltic]

[phil-b259]

15 hours ago, LBRJ said:

I always thought that Screwfix used the nearest (often very close by)  B &Q  store as their warehouse  

 

Screwfix and B&Q are both owned by the same parent company! (Kingfisher PLC)

 

As such they will no doubt share certain things behind the scenes - and its quite probable that distribution and product sourcing to the two chains is handled by the same people.

[boxbrownie]

7 minutes ago, spikey said:

Can somebody help me understand something about this recurring delivery slots lark?  I have no issue whatsoever with anyone who is genuinely in need of it getting priority for home delivery, but given the current shortage of slots, why on earth would such a person need to be allocated one every week?  Is the assumption that they are not capable of ordering what they'll need for at least a fortnight?

Agree......but anyway at the moment ASDA only has slots for one week in advance, and they are all booked up, so not sure how the recurring slots work unless they are knocking them on the head for the duration, or people just got lucky.

 

Our ASDA order which is coming tomorrow (the only one we could get five weeks ago!) is now at over £300 but only because we cannot go out and afraid we won’t be able to order again for a good few weeks, even that though we are limited to three of each item.......we are going to have to ration a lot of stuff with four adults and two young children in the house.

 

Luckily we have found we can order things like nappies, kitchen rolls, baby wipes on Amazon.....for now. 

[phil-b259]

12 minutes ago, spikey said:

Can somebody help me understand something about this recurring delivery slots lark?  I have no issue whatsoever with anyone who is genuinely in need of it getting priority for home delivery, but given the current shortage of slots, why on earth would such a person need to be allocated one every week?  Is the assumption that they are not capable of ordering what they'll need for at least a fortnight?

 

Because not everyone wants to live of tinned / dry goods.

 

Yes some fresh products can be frozen, but not all - and some fruits or vegetables will go off quickly.

 

Also, one of the big problems at the start of the Pandemic was folk buying stuff at a rate which exceeded the ability of the supply chain to restock them leading to big gaps on the shelves. With the use of 'just in time' logistics being the norm in retail supply ensuring people are supplied on a 'little but often' basis ensures the supply chains are not overstretched and should hopefully ensure everyone gets what they want.

 

[boxbrownie]

3 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Because not everyone wants to live of tinned / dry goods.

 

Yes some fresh products can be frozen, but not all - and some fruits or vegetables will go off quickly.

 

 

 

Well maybe some people might have to make adjustments during the present crisis?

 

A lot of us are already.......

Edited April 9, 2020 by boxbrownie

[Reorte]

2 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Well maybe some people might have to make adjustments during the present crisis?

 

Tinned and dry goods were still somewhat sparse the last time I went shopping anyway, there was a good chunk of fresh or nothing. I don't know if the situation has changed since last week though.

[spikey]

2 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

Well maybe some people might have to make adjustments during the present crisis?

 

You beat me to it.  Probably as well too, because I doubt I'd have been as diplomatic

[boxbrownie]

5 minutes ago, Reorte said:

 

Tinned and dry goods were still somewhat sparse the last time I went shopping anyway, there was a good chunk of fresh or nothing. I don't know if the situation has changed since last week though.

You’ll have to tell me, we cannot go out 

[boxbrownie]

7 minutes ago, spikey said:

 

You beat me to it.  Probably as well too, because I doubt I'd have been as diplomatic

I was trying to be 

[melmerby]

25 minutes ago, spikey said:

Can somebody help me understand something about this recurring delivery slots lark?  I have no issue whatsoever with anyone who is genuinely in need of it getting priority for home delivery, but given the current shortage of slots, why on earth would such a person need to be allocated one every week?  Is the assumption that they are not capable of ordering what they'll need for at least a fortnight?

I see a bit of a rant. Some items can't be ordered in sufficient quantities to last 2 weeks.

We normally eat oranges and apples every day but the current limits of 3 packs or limited amount of kg last less than 2 weeks.

 

BTW ours is fortnightly and we will need to go without some of those fresh foods in the second week. Some fruit and veg doesn't store well, even in a fridge.

 

[phil-b259]

6 minutes ago, spikey said:

 

You beat me to it.  Probably as well too, because I doubt I'd have been as diplomatic

 

However if tinned goods are in short supply, but fresh veg is plentiful what is better? A delivery every 2 weeks that does not have enough to sustain someone for 2 weeks or a weekly delivery with a small amount of tines and a large amount of fresh produce?

 

You should also pay attention to the fact that Tesco is calling on people not subject to self isolation to go actually go and do their shopping in store so as to free up delivery slots for those unable to do so.

 

Covid-19 doesn't change the distribution network or magic up lost of extra warehouse space from nothing - we have to cope with what is in place from before the pandemic started. That is all geared round frequent small deliveries and not big deliveries widely spaced.

 

 

[Reorte]

4 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

You’ll have to tell me, we cannot go out 

 

Well I've not gone to the shops since then, I'm trying to reduce it significantly and I've got enough to keep me going in to next week (could go for a bit longer than that but I want to keep some storeable stuff stored just in case I have to isolate). I hope you'll agree that it's best if I don't go down to Tesco out of curiosity about what's on the shelves!

[Andy Hayter]

Some people do not have freezers and perhaps only a small fridge.  This means that they have to purchase fresh food regularly.  Some things you can switch to a long life or a tinned version (milk for example though I would rather not) but things like meat, cheese, citrus fruits, bananas, soft fruits, lettuce, tomatoes and so on are going to present a problem.  

 

Doing without is of course an option but the impact on gut health has to be considered, let alone trying to stick to 5 a day.

[melmerby]

I've now had an e-mail from ASDA saying that I must confirm my delivery slot or I will lose it but I cannot do anything as the order is showing confirmed already and wont let me amend anything. (Not until next Monday)

 

 

 

[boxbrownie]

14 minutes ago, Reorte said:

 

I hope you'll agree that it's best if I don't go down to Tesco out of curiosity about what's on the shelves!

Of course, it’s the responsible option, but at least you can go out when you need shopping........it just feels like there is quite a bit of “I’m alright Jack” about, probably by the same people who go out for drives to get out the house or have a BBQ with friends.

 

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by boxbrownie

[melmerby]

7 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

Some people do not have freezers and perhaps only a small fridge.  This means that they have to purchase fresh food regularly.  Some things you can switch to a long life or a tinned version (milk for example though I would rather not) but things like meat, cheese, citrus fruits, bananas, soft fruits, lettuce, tomatoes and so on are going to present a problem.  

 

Doing without is of course an option but the impact on gut health has to be considered, let alone trying to stick to 5 a day.

Fresh milk in plastic bottles will last two weeks (just) but will be a few days past it's use by date, we are already doing that.

Freshly cut cheese off a deli counter will go off quickly, as will meat.

Pre-packed cheese will last much longer, it usually has a month or more but deteriorates rapidly once opened if it's not a hard cheese like Parmesan.

Tomatoes & lettuce are iffy, as can be oranges, although yesterday we finished some bought 12 days ago and they were fine.

Bananas are a definite no no. Apples probably OK.

 

A lot depends on how fresh stuff is and with it vanishing off the shelves quickly should mean most is.

[Reorte]

10 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Fresh milk in plastic bottles will last two weeks (just) but will be a few days past it's use by date, we are already doing that.

 

Milk (at least semi-skimmed) can be frozen.

[Joseph_Pestell]

27 minutes ago, Reorte said:

 

Milk (at least semi-skimmed) can be frozen.

Full fat as well.

[Reorte]

3 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

Full fat as well.

 

I thought it didn't work properly with full fat, separated out too much. But I vaguely recall hearing that years ago so might be nonsense. Might pay to be a bit careful with it though whatever sort of milk it is, the top of the bottle I took out of the freezer yesterday had been damaged by the expansion.

Edited April 9, 2020 by Reorte

[Joseph_Pestell]

Just now, Reorte said:

 

I thought it didn't work properly with full fat, separated out too much. But that I vaguely recall hearing years ago. Might pay to be a bit careful with it though whatever sort of milk it is, the top of the bottle I took out of the freezer yesterday had been damaged by the expansion.

I don't think that it would work with old-fashioned full fat where all the cream was at the top. But fine with homogenised full fat. I am using one at the moment that was in the freezer last week.

[midlands]

4 hours ago, rockershovel said:

i'm certain that past data records are playing a significant part in the whole business, with shops favouring past customers who do, after all, pay a subscription. I can also quite see that no one wants to say that at present.

 

I would agree accept, Morrison's had been my weekly shop supplier for two years, untill the rush on delivery slots started. Since then Morrisons have ignored me.And delivery slots remain impossible to find. However, Asda whom I have only used a couple times prior to the virus contacted me first with the offer of a priority slot.

[spikey]

30 minutes ago, Joseph_Pestell said:

I don't think that it would work with old-fashioned full fat where all the cream was at the top. But fine with homogenised full fat. I am using one at the moment that was in the freezer last week.

 

Waitrose's full fat organic milk freezes perfectly alright, despite Waitrose customer service's assertion a few years ago that it doesn't.

[boxbrownie]

2 hours ago, midlands said:

 

I would agree accept, Morrison's had been my weekly shop supplier for two years, untill the rush on delivery slots started. Since then Morrisons have ignored me.And delivery slots remain impossible to find. However, Asda whom I have only used a couple times prior to the virus contacted me first with the offer of a priority slot.

Exactly the same with us but it is Waitrose which despite being regular in shop and online shoppers have been ignoring us.

[johnd]

Have come to the conclusion that if you've been loyal to a particular on line shop it accounts to nothing! they seem more interested in trying to keep the new customer of the last few weeks. I just wonder after this has all blown over if these new customers will keep to online shopping and what inducements will be offered to keep them!

[rockershovel]

2 hours ago, midlands said:

 

I would agree accept, Morrison's had been my weekly shop supplier for two years, untill the rush on delivery slots started. Since then Morrisons have ignored me.And delivery slots remain impossible to find. However, Asda whom I have only used a couple times prior to the virus contacted me first with the offer of a priority slot.

 

Perhaps the next focus of competition will be delivery services?