(h/t No9 Coal) This is specifically the #1 precursor, for all the reasons previously mentioned.
Do not be alarmed; be prudent.
What are you seeing in your area?
Feel free to note in the comments section what is happening in your area. Hopefully, most of us are much better positioned than the average person who has not been following this as closely over the past several months.
Initial food instability signs in the supply chain. Things to look for:
(1) A shortage of processed potatoes (frozen specifically).
1.a And/Or a shortage of the ancillary products that are derivatives of, or normally include, potatoes.
(2) A larger than usual footprint of turkey/ham in the supermarket (last lines of protein).
(3) A noticeable increase in the price of citrus products.
(4) A sparse distribution of foodstuffs that rely on flavorings (sports drinks).
(5) The absence of non-seasonal products.
(6) Little to no price difference on the organic comparable (diff supply chain)
(7) Unusual country of origin for fresh product type.
(8) Absence of large container products
(9) Shortage of any ordinary but specific grain derivative item (ex. wheat crackers)
(10) Big brand shortage.
(11) Shortage of wet pet foods
(12) Shortage of complex blended products with multiple ingredients (soups etc)
(13) A consistent shortage of milk products and/or ancillaries.
These notes above are all precursors that show significant stress in the supply chain. Once these issues are consistently visible, we will likely continue toward food instability very quickly, sector by sector, category by category.
The reason I list the shortage of potatoes as the #1 precursor is because every food outlet sells a potato in some form. Every supermarket and every single restaurant (fancy, sit down or fast food) sells some form of potato. Potatoes are demanded by every single food outlet; therefore, a shortage of potatoes is the first noticeable issue.
Links to SHARE (be prudent with whom):
Tulsa area we see more and more empty shelves. Macaroni is nonexistent now, most pasta actually.
Why isn’t it a news blowout like the toilet paper?
When belly’s are growling maybe, we can start the lynchings?
I went to my local Publix in FL and the only shelves that were lacking was the paper products. Everything I need to buy was there so I consider myself blessed. I shopped for two weeks so I am stocked up.
Reporting from daughter shopping at Kroger in Nashville area yesterday: frozen potatoes fully stocked as well as the entire store.
20 miles southeast of Charlotte, NC, near the SC border — I noticed my local Harris Teeter was well stocked during the holidays – Thanksgiving to Christmas, and then as New Years approached – finger food and booze was emphasized more and the empty shelves started to appear more. canned cat food was the first noticed, that started before Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I couldn’t get the cream cheese I wanted, there was some, but not much. frozen potatoes was showing a pattern baldness too. all my favorites which seem to be other people favorites too, are gone. Just a few, “blah”flavors left. the instant potatoes packets were on sale so I stocked up on those. a butcher at Publix told me chopped meat hasn’t gone up in price as much as the whole cuts of meat have. probably because they can cheat with the chopped kind.
pittsburgh, pa here. Some empty shelving, all in all, I found what I needed. Lotsa turkeys, very few frozen potatoes. Going to Costco tomorrow and hopefully can do some sticking up…….good luck my dear friends!
My neighbor works for a potato processing plant and mentioned that the company had fired a bunch of people because some potato fields yielded no potatoes this past year.
Where is this? (No specifics necessary.)
The policy of Democrat politicians will cripple the Supply Chain.
“Thousands of Amazon boxes and other packages are left opened on the rails, after being looted directly from the containers piled up on a train in Downtown Los Angeles, leaving numerous open boxes near the railroad. Rail operator Union Pacific has seen a 160 percent rise in the thefts in Los Angeles county since December 2020”.
https://www.itemfix.com/v?t=8n6gxr
California is a lawless Banana Republic.
Funny how there’s “shortages” popping up all over, yet all the Valentine’s Day crap is fully stocked!
That stuff is often made long ahead of the season.
Central Florida here- Publix is low/out of paper products, (don’t forget to get Kleenex), frozen potatoes, certain snacks, canned cat food has been basically out for a couple months, cough medicine/vitamins are low, and fresh produce is hit or miss.
Was reading on one of my Connecticut groups and they’re blaming the lack of cat food on hoarding and a crisis in aluminum supply. 🙄
Interesting. I thought I read somewhere early on that aluminum pet food cans came from China, and are stuck on container ships waiting to be unloaded.
I understand now the contents are very low priority.
Oh, but there’s lots of Valentine’s candy and gift stuff!😄
I don’t understand bullet point 5 – “the absence of NON seasonal products”. Isn’t “non-seasonal” the same as everyday products? So we should see plenty of only seasonal products? Clearly I am missing something.
seasonal produce: Apples in the fall, oranges in the winter, melons in the summer, berries in the spring.
non-seasonal produce: apples in the spring, oranges in the summer, and so on. because these are imported or come from far away.
Getting almost impossable to find buttermilk at any grocer, some fast food joints are posting on their menue boards item’s they are currently out of.
Where?
Just got back from the HEB in Oak Hill, very busy place.
Place looked fully stocked. They had frozen potatoes in stock but not very many left. Produce section was loaded along with the meats, dairy and eggs stocked. Drinks aisle filled up. Beer aisle overflowing.
If I hadn’t been looking I wouldn’t have noticed that the pasta section was pretty thin. But the pasta they had was whole wheat/whole grain or veg protein. Anyway they had all of the types of pasta just not an abundance. A LOT of ramen though, .36 cents a package.
Prime 1 Ribeyes are $21/lb. Wagyu – $35/lb.
Prices are up quite a bit from what I am used to on every day items. I’ve decided to cut back on beef and eat more chikin, which is abundant and cheap. A lot of the specials they offer involve chicken (in store coupons and buy 2 bags of marinated chicken and get w,x,y,z free type deals) But the marinated chicken bags are $3.50/lb for thigh meat and $4.50/lb for breast meat.
So it’s chicken taco night all week. At least it all tastes pretty good.
I also noticed that there were employees all over that place. Seemed like 1 on every aisle, stockers or curb side gatherers, manager types. But, there were only about 5 out of 15 lanes open.
That’s all I got for today.
Buy your meat locally. We just p/u our 1/4 side, about 140 lbs. Grass fed & finished, about $4.24/lb. included cutting it the way we requested. Yes 32 lbs were 90/10 hamburger but we got rib eyes, t-bones, sirloins and sirloin tips as well a bunch of stew meat and various roasts. They threw in some soup bones, dog bones and a heart. The least expensive organic 90/10 here in Port Angeles is $4.99/lb so even the burger is less expensive.
Can’t beat going local. We grow a lot of our own but in warmer months, the various farmer markets offer a wide variety of produce we don’t grow.
Here in WNY (BFLO/NF), I see shortages in some places, but not others. I can get as much as I want of wet cat food at PetSmart and my local pet store. Yet my local supermarket is rationing 1 CAN PER CUSTOMER. Meat is still readily available, but citrus prices have skyrocketed! (Bag of Hsloes for $7.99 ON SALE!) Plenty of water, but empty shelves of Gatorsde. (🤔) VERY LIMITED toilet paper selection. NO Quilted Northern at Target or Dollar General, yet available at my local supermarket. Lots of whole turkeys at my local supermarket. Frozen potatoes (Ore-Ida and Mrs. T’s pierogoes) still available.
Most of NYS is RURAL and AGRICULTURAL, including my county (Niagara). We have dairy and tree fruits, along with dairy products and meat livestock. Thank God for FARMERS/RANCHERS! I have plenty of sources of fresh produce and meats within a 1/2hr drive.
Local your own local sources. Develop relationships, if possible.
They clearly want to starve us into submission.
FingerLakes here. Only shortage here seems to be flavored water. We shop at Amish and Mennonite stores mostly. One thing I can say about NYS is all the farmers with produce. We are in the country also. Good luck to you!!!!
Just got back from Winco Foods here in Logan Utah. Well Stocked including frozen potatoes. My point is that if you live in a more rural area you are more fortunate. Shipper are more willing to unload their cargo out here than in the more urban areas. Truck drivers don’t want to enter Democrat areas. Walmarts are not as well stocked though.
Interior Alaska is looking pretty thin on produce. The roof of our local grocery caved in a few weeks ago, so we have no local store so to say, but I’ve been told the commissary on the nearby base is completely wiped out of produce. When I was in Fairbanks I noticed that the produce section of Costco was looking pretty emaciated as well. Lots of open space. Everything else seemed fairly well stocked.
Someone mentioned trucks stuck in Canada and I told them they’ll probably be stuck there for a long while. I’m pretty sure most produce, as previously mentioned, comes up via barge. The AlCan is not exactly a fast, easy, or safe road this time of year.
Here in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis, the only shortage I have seen in the local grocery stores is, oddly enough, Kraft parmesan cheese. Walmart is the only store that I have found that still has any in stock.
Other brands of parmesan cheese are still readily available. It’s just Kraft that is in short supply.
It’s worth noting that none of the local restaurants are locked down and there are no local vaccine passports being imposed.
This means that the retail side of the food supply chain locally isn’t being stressed due to the restaurant side of the supply chain being artificially constricted.
I hope these truckers stand firm and do not comply. One week is all it takes to bring the whole thing crashing down.
At this point I think that’s what takes. Right now there’s nothing stopping the tyrants.
Truckers can.
What are you seeing in your area?
Received this in an email from the company today. Warning to regular customers that prices will be increasing…
Last Chance at Current Prices
Because you’re a Tekton.com account holder, we’re giving you advance notice of a price increase taking place on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. In most cases, product prices will increase between 5 and 12 percent.
22-JAN Atlantic Ave Publix in Delray Beach has bare shelves in the frozen potato item section. Cream cheese section has a sign that basically says ‘due to supply chain issues, customers are limited to two items from the cream cheese section”