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Shortages on the way

2K views 18 replies 14 participants last post by  reluctantpatriot 
#1 ·
Fears that scores of supermarket suppliers will go bust next year have led the country's major chains to draw up emergency plans to replace them, The Observer can reveal.

Separately, on the high street, bailiffs are getting ready for their busiest Christmas ever, with a slew of retailers expected to go into administration.

Supermarket chain Asda, led by Andy Bond, is working on 'worst-case scenarios' across the board -
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/14/retail-supermarkets-suppliers-credit-crunch


For those that may not know ASDA is the UK Arm of WalMart , and they are working on the "worst case senario , " scheme for the UK 's third largest grocer .
 
#3 ·
I was in Wal Mart today and went to the cat food aisle to get some food for my cats. They didn't have the selection they usually have. There was a sign posted there that said they were having problems getting some of their suppliers to fill their shelves. I didn't go around the whole store so I don't know if there were other parts of the store that had the same problem or not.
 
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#4 ·
I was in Wal Mart today and went to the cat food aisle to get some food for my cats. They didn't have the selection they usually have. There was a sign posted there that said they were having problems getting some of their suppliers to fill their shelves. I didn't go around the whole store so I don't know if there were other parts of the store that had the same problem or not.
Hmmmm. That's concerning.

I have 35# of dry cat food stashed away in the big chest freezer. I'm still working on getting ahead on dogfood.
 
#5 ·
Try not to base too much on Wal-Mart or its subsidiaries. Their purchasing methods really grind down the suppliers. It may be more of a deal with "at the price we want" than getting it at all.

That said, I do foresee some upsets in the supply chain as this recession unfolds.

Came earlier than I expected. I was still in the "buy the flats of cans" cause it is cheap until we can get a decent garden up and running. Now garden activities are taking priority. Also wheat and corn. We have beef in the pasture and chickens and eggs. And horses to work should it be necessary.

I just don't know where the pygmy goat fits in.
 
#7 ·
She is a little busybody. She follows me around like a dog.

We came to adopt a free Thoroughbred mare from Las Vegas. It showed up with 2 pygmy goats as part of the deal that I was not prepared for - but DW had me building her a shelter for the winter - a goat condo. Last night in the blizzard we found that she was using it.

Sorry for the thread drift!
 
#9 ·
I've noticed that our local Food Lion, Bi-Lo, and Walmart are stocking less on the shelves. Many sales items are gone before I get there, and cans and boxes aren't "backed" by many more on the shelf. They're also having clearances on items they won't carry anymore. I can see belt tightening already.....

The latest "gimmick" I saw was "buy one, get $1 coupon towards your next purchase" in order to get you back in the store.
 
#11 ·
A thought about WalMart...Some of you may not know that they (and many other larger retailers too) practice a unique little thing called "Just In Time" inventory management. I have no doubt that the increase in holiday spending that WalMart has experienced so far, had played a significant role in shelf inventory. They have to add in the extra sales (in variouos categories) to figure out how much extra to ship so it arrived on the shelf "just in time". They have fine honed their computor models over years, but I am sure this changing demographic is tossing that old data right out the window.

The CEO of WalMart was on the Sunday news show-the one with Schaffer? Anyhow, he said sales in certain things were up 8 to ten percent. Canned foods, frozen items, food storage-all up. And I am sure we all know this, if we think about it. WalMart is one place I can buy canning jars year round, for example.

Anyway, just a thought or two.
 
#13 ·
Seen a report yesterday that ships are not doing the business they used to. Their shipping is now about 25% of what is was this time last year. One shipping company even forfeited a $5 million dollar deposit to cancel new ships it had ordered. I think we'll start seeing a lot of empty shelves soon.

Remember the old movement to "buy American". We will soon have no choice if the ships stop bringing in the imports. I'm guessing that it's probably because banks have locked down loans and companies can't order on credit anymore.

Now is the time to be sure your preps are totally topped off. I've already seen a few favorite brands missing from the shelves. So far they've managed to replace them with other brands, but that might not last long.
 
#14 ·
My local Winn Dixie food store is doing clearance on many products they don't sell, fancy gourmet type items and certain ethic foods. I find some good deals on things here and there like organic stone ground wheat, spices and pastas but I passed on the canned Escargot, Things I can't pronounce and anything that did not have an English translation :)

The store isn't stocking as much as they once did and when they have sales certain items tend to run out before the sale is over which didn't happen in the past.
 
#15 ·
I've noticed that our local Food Lion, Bi-Lo, and Walmart are stocking less on the shelves. Many sales items are gone before I get there, and cans and boxes aren't "backed" by many more on the shelf. They're also having clearances on items they won't carry anymore. I can see belt tightening already.....

The latest "gimmick" I saw was "buy one, get $1 coupon towards your next purchase" in order to get you back in the store.
I just ran upon a sale like this on olive oil... our local store was selling the 64oz for 3.00 (normally 12.00) and the 32 oz for 1.00..( normally 6.99-8.99) and all there olive oil dipping sauces and special oils for 1.00.. I went crazy.. I have so much EVOO, lemon oil, basil oil etc...in fact we bought all they had.. they will not be carrying this brand any longer... funny thing was I had just told my Chef "to be" son who cooks all of our meals that as part of our recent tightening the belt that EVOO had to go as it was just too expensive...Boy he was ecstatic when I came home with all those bottles.
 
#17 ·
I just ran upon a sale like this on olive oil... our local store was selling the 64oz for 3.00 (normally 12.00) and the 32 oz for 1.00..( normally 6.99-8.99) and all there olive oil dipping sauces and special oils for 1.00.. I went crazy.. I have so much EVOO, lemon oil, basil oil etc...in fact we bought all they had.. they will not be carrying this brand any longer... funny thing was I had just told my Chef "to be" son who cooks all of our meals that as part of our recent tightening the belt that EVOO had to go as it was just too expensive...Boy he was ecstatic when I came home with all those bottles.
I found some Olive Oil deals too, $1 for 8oz bottles, no flavors but still a great buy and I took all 10 on the shelf. I also found capers for 50 cents a bottle (got all 3) and white pepper for 50 cents.

I have two "chef to be's" myself :)
 
#18 ·
There's a couple of items my preferred grocer can't get, so I have to go order at the big chain in town (a Kroger). I've ordered from them every couple of months for the past couple of years, so they know me. I always order in bulk.

This time when I called in my order, they told me I needed to pay in advance. I found that odd, seeing as how I'd always paid when the items arrived. There's never been a dispute and they've been paid in full each time upon receipt of the items, so I challenged their desire for cash up front just to order. The manager told me that it was their new company policy from headquarters.

This belt tightening hits home more than a lot of others have. Now for cases of food they want cash, but tomorrow they may not be able to sell to me at all.
 
#19 ·
We haven't noticed much bare shelving, but when I went in to find some arrows for a boy's solstice gift I noticed that there was only one bag of dry dog food in the entire Wal-Mart pet food area in the store that is near where my mother lives. I thought that was odd to say the least. I can imagine being low at times, but not to see every slot empty save for one 40 pound bag.

When I buy canned goods I buy what I need right then and then a few more.

I do have compost gathered and a rototiller borrowed from my mother for us to till into a backyard garden this spring at our house.
 
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