Pandemic supply chain in your area

[Poppy]

What a difference three days makes!

Today my daughter went to the supermarket and got some stuff.

Apparently we are making tacos for dinner! Yum!

Many cleaning products were depleted. Regarding the brand of laundry detergent that she prefers... she got the last two bottles.
Bleach... she got two gallons. The last two - one gallon containers. There were still a lot of the 1 quart, and half gallon available.
The bread isle was quite depleted, and peanut butter and jelly.
Frozen pizza, quite depleted.

Is it related to the fact that the entire school system will be totally virtual next week, whereas the schools had 1/3rd of the kids in in-school class (on a rotating basis) so more kids will be eating at home?

OR is it related to the fact the the numbers in NJ are at around 1,500 new cases a day, whereas 6 weeks ago they were recording about 250-300 new cases a day?

Just a reminder of how quickly things can go south.

 

[Devildude]

Things are still holding up well in central New York, the only thing that was getting scarce was Alavert. I hit 5 drug stores in Oneonta and only one had any. Must be in high demand right now. Everything else seemed normal other than no spinach, that hurts a little but I can get by.

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

There seem to be a number of things that disappear for awhile and then mysteriously reappear. For example, Graham Crackers in the red box (the Original version) were totally gone for weeks. Now the supply is plentiful. Asked at my local store why it was unavailable ... didn't know. Asked why it was plentiful, didn't know.

Now, last week and this week it's Wright's thick cut bacon that has gone walkabout. No known reason.

Here's my reaction to all of this is:

1. It's no big deal. It's not like I'm starving or there's a famine.

2. I'm doing a better job of anticipating food needed. So, when X starts to run low I go buy some.

3. I've tried some new (for me) foods that I didn't used to like, such as rice, and have found a new interest.

4. I've expanded the number of stores I shop at. Often one won't have X, but another will.

Anyway, I don't really stockpile, but I do like to have a reasonable number of staples in the pantry. YMMV.

 

[markr6]

^ Good points. I can't speak for the entire world, but it's really just a matter of inconvenience. All the "good" cereal is gone. I have to use 85% ground beef instead of 93%. Why are Extra Toasty Cheez-its the only flavor out of stock all the time?

Are we going to get to the point where the prepper guy is in his basement heating up rice out of a 5-gal bucket over an alcohol stove? Come on. But if people like planning for that, more power to them. It's their time and money.

The grocery stores and those who supply them are having a very difficult time finding a balance. A balance that simply isn't there. Overall they're doing an amazing job in times of chaos.

 

[idleprocess]

... I can't speak for the entire world, but it's really just a matter of inconvenience.

... Are we going to get to the point where the prepper guy is in his basement heating up rice out of a 5-gal bucket over an alcohol stove? Come on. But if people like planning for that, more power to them. It's their time and money.

My preparation has largely consisted of padding the usual staples and spending a bit more than usual in the process. Didn't convert my 401k into MREs, 50lb sacks of rice, a generator with a dedicated 500 gallon propane tank, nor a 1000 gallon cistern.

 

[markr6]

Didn't convert my 401k into MREs, 50lb sacks of rice, a generator with a dedicated 500 gallon propane tank, nor a 1000 gallon cistern.

LOL!! Get to work...you have 2 weeks!

Yeah, I now have 6 boxes of pasta instead of one that's about half empty and a freezer with more than just ice cubes and some frozen pizzas.

 

[idleprocess]

LOL!! Get to work...you have 2 weeks!

I do have an alcohol burner, which probably has enough wheaties to boil a pint of water and enough alcohol to boil ... more than one pint.

 

[turbodog]

Actual brand name purell is back in stock... also it's buy one get one free as well. Guess they want their market share back I suppose.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

Actual brand name purell is back in stock... also it's buy one get one free as well. Guess they want their market share back I suppose.

Considering everyone even Budweiser is making hand sanitizer now there is huge competition I've seen various hand sanitizers on sale in every store these days.

 

[idleprocess]

Actual brand name purell is back in stock... also it's buy one get one free as well. Guess they want their market share back I suppose.

Might also be some whipsaw action in the supply chain.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Considering everyone even Budweiser is making hand sanitizer now there is huge competition I've seen various hand sanitizers on sale in every store these days.

I've given up on the off-brand hand sanitizers. They're either too sticky, too runny, smell weird or some combination of these. I'm sticking with Purell or Germ-X.

 

[nbp]

Germ-x is a good product. But it is actually an "off-brand" as the same formula from Vi-Jon is packaged as many different private labels for different stores around the country from CVS, Walgreens, Meijer, Etc.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I just use the alcohol hand wipes when I'm away from home or a restroom where I use hand soap.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Germ-x is a good product. But it is actually an "off-brand" as the same formula from Vi-Jon is packaged as many different private labels for different stores around the country from CVS, Walgreens, Meijer, Etc.

Yeah it's kind of the Avis of hand sanitizers but it's been around a long time and the formula seems to behave just like Purell.

 

[nbp]

Yes they are pretty similar. I used to work in the QA/QC lab for a contract blending and packaging company. We made hand sanitizers for Gojo/Purell, Ecolab, Vi-Jon (Germ-X and all its private labels). I have tested thousands of batches or hand sanitizer. Most of the big players are basically the same. Ethanol, water, a polymer, some pH balancers, color, fragrance, moisturizers. They tweak their formulas a bit but it's all very similar.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Yes they are pretty similar. I used to work in the QA/QC lab for a contract blending and packaging company. We made hand sanitizers for Gojo/Purell, Ecolab, Vi-Jon (Germ-X and all its private labels). I have tested thousands of batches or hand sanitizer. Most of the big players are basically the same. Ethanol, water, a polymer, some pH balancers, color, fragrance, moisturizers. They tweak their formulas a bit but it's all very similar.

Wow. Thanks for the inside scoop, nbp!

 

[bykfixer]

Today at the grocery store I noticed several people were there to buy toilet paper and only toilet paper. Uh oh. Well, some were carrying paper towels. We still had some stockpiled from March but hey, when in Rome, right?

We got to the toilet paper/paper towel row and it looked like March all over again. There was a big ole hole where Red Baron pizzas are normally stocked at too. Yet plenty of clorox wipes and Lysol.

Canned lima beans keep disappearing. Frozen are plentiful though. And Chef Boyardee must have retired because canned ravioli etc is still missing from shelves and was all summer. Maybe he got covid-19 from the keebler elves and didn't make it. (shrugs shoulders).

 

[LeanBurn]

The Costco in my area had zero toilet paper when we went in. As we were about to check out, I saw someone with a pack in their cart, this led to a line of people headed back to the location and within minutes the pallet was gone. There was a 1/customer limit.
There are random rolling outages on certain items in my area such as canned fruit and chili and some soups. It still hasn't returned to precovid dependability.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

I read a story today where some doctors in the Dakotas still can't get N95 masks. I've purchased a few KN95 masks that I've stumbled across in stores, but I won't buy the medical grade masks 'cause I don't want to be part of the problem.

 

[idleprocess]

I read a story today where some doctors in the Dakotas still can't get N95 masks. I've purchased a few KN95 masks that I've stumbled across in stores, but I won't buy the medical grade masks 'cause I don't want to be part of the problem.

I haven't seen actual N95 masks in hardware stores since ~February. I get weeks of use out of KN95s as filter media for my ersatz RZ mask setup. I do wish it were easier to source KN95s - I might need to ask some of the local medical supply places if they have a line on the genuine article as I've already been burned on the 'Zon once.