Are you experiencing big gap in the shelves in your area?

I did notice at the weekend in the small Sainsbury we use that some of the freezers were almost empty apart from a few pizzas and some frozen veg.

Everything we wanted was there and I didn't notice that any of the dried goods shelves were low. Plenty of chilled products - milk, juice, cream, desserts, meat. Also lots of fresh and chilled veg.

Some of the Co-op shelves were a bit low, but none of them empty as far I could tell. We got the few things we went for so I might not have noticed other things missing as we tend to be in and out quite quickly.

Apparently the problem with some goods is, there are not enough drivers to transport the goods.

The supermarket I work in had no milk a couple of weeks ago.

They had the supplies ready to be delivered but no delivery drivers to deliver.

I don’t think any of us are going to find ourselves going hungry.If there are problems with deliveries to one store, you can try another.
So far there are no problems at all in my village/ nearby town.

GillT57

JenniferEccles

Was this not the response you were hoping for OP?
Were you hoping for tales of woe, accounts of empty shelves ?

What’s the situation like in Switzerland?
Isn’t that more relevant to you as that’s where you live?

Why this obsession with Switzerland? Are you all at chez lemongrove and drinking too much?

??? Cheers Gill ? did we forget to invite you over?

With the pandemic there could be delivery problems with certain foodstuffs in any European ( or not) country.
Things will soon iron themselves out though.

I'm interested lemongrove just how you think that things will 'iron themselves out'
What solutions do you offer?
It's clearly not just the pandemic is it?
Brexit has sent many HGV drivers, hospitality workers, fruit pickers et al back from whence they came. This is not conjecture, it is a fact
Just as an aside, I find the hounding of one poster's country of origin, disturbing and verging on bullying
This is an open forum and as such, anyone should be able to post about anything, without having to explain their personal circumstances
Poor show

Elleee

I'm interested lemongrove just how you think that things will 'iron themselves out'
What solutions do you offer?
It's clearly not just the pandemic is it?
Brexit has sent many HGV drivers, hospitality workers, fruit pickers et al back from whence they came. This is not conjecture, it is a fact
Just as an aside, I find the hounding of one poster's country of origin, disturbing and verging on bullying
This is an open forum and as such, anyone should be able to post about anything, without having to explain their personal circumstances
Poor show

Well said ???

What nonsense Ellee
First of all, things will iron themselves out as drivers self isolating with Covid will become double jabbed etc and also firms will offer good salaries to attract new delivery drivers.
Second, nobody has been ‘sent back from whence they came’
Due to Brexit, they have chosen to leave, which is quite different and more likely as a result of Covid last March than anything else.
Thirdly there is no hounding of any poster because of either their country of origin or the fact that they have chosen to live elsewhere.There are many posters on here who live in other countries.

to be fair the op only asked a simple question under the general topic heading food

if she or others wanted it to be all about brexit then it misfired
i thought it was just to get an overview nationwide with no intent and then maybe to discuss alternative shops or items as i did in my first contribution

but gradually i did become involved in the spin off questions and of course began to associate the thread with the other brexit ones by the op

i said on a different thread that sometimes our words colour us for our entire gn life on every topic and i think this is why people re invent themselves
i hope the op comes up with other topics to discuss which dont always dwell on the same issues and i hope that posters contribute accordingly

the trouble is sometimes it is difficult to get away from that image
it depends how posters want to play it

Anyway here it seems to be only sardines in olive oil off shelves in Marks and Lidl. I prefer those to brine and tomato sauce!

exactly the same for albacore tuna in olive oil fairfraise
but loads in spring water

it must be to do with the olive production somehow

You can get them in Asda online, the sardines I mean, but we don't do that often.

Lillie
Brexit bashing by the back door is some posters raison d’etra.
When it’s been going on for 5 years there’s no way they can disguise it.

it must be to do with the olive production somehow
Interesting thought Lillie and very plausible, although I think I also read somewhere that the aluminium needed to manufacture tins was in short supply. (If it’s not aluminium I’m sure somebody will put me right. )
Anyway, a few years ago DH read about a poor olive harvest and possible hikes in the price of olive oil. He “encouraged” me to buy (quite) a few litre bottles - and I am just now on the last one. I don’t actually remember if the price went up or not though.
It is interesting how used we have become to choice - I can stand in the cereals aisle and there must be over 20 breakfast cereals- in my childhood it was Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Rice Crispies, Shredded Wheat, maybe Weetabix or porridge.
Oh the excitement of Sugar Puffs!
Are we actually better off?

MerylStreep

Lillie
Brexit bashing by the back door is some posters raison d’etra.
When it’s been going on for 5 years there’s no way they can disguise it.

Some call it Brexit bashing, others call it reality check.

I try to mix my Brexit bashing in with a bit of Meghan support, Royal family hating and rampant Scottish nationalism. Makes the day more interesting.

Why would I want to disguise my Brexit bashing?

yes mawbe i heard packaging is a problem too, maybe why there is a shortage of cat food in pouches

the albacore tuna i buy is in glass jars
it comes from Spain and as i said the one in water is plentiful

my next experiment is to buy the plain one drain it and soak it over night in olive oil from the bottle

because algerias you have a balanced outlook and are not over fixated

as i am sadly on olive oil

It seems to be a combination of so many factors, some mentioned on here but what is reportedly causing the most chaos at the moment is the track and trace system causing so many to have to self-isolate - so-called "pingmania".

Add in no HGV training or tests, shortage of tin worldwide, no bubbles to put the fizz in the drinks etc etc and we have a perfect storm.

It's interesting, though, that this is the case in a few areas but not everywhere.

Anyway, a few years ago DH read about a poor olive harvest and possible hikes in the price of olive oil.

I read about a supposed shortage of rapeseed oil last year (on GN - you heard it here first!) so stocked up on just a couple of extra bottles and tried to keep one ahead since then (no panic buying in this house, I can assure you) but so far all seems well and there hasn't been a shortage.

It doesn't take long to start a rumour, though, spreads on the internet and shelves consequently stripped bare.

lemongrove your optimistic outlook about the HGV drivers is misplaced, there really is a serious problem which isn’t going to resolve itself in weeks, or even months. The impact of EU drivers leaving, the impact of Brexit on delivering to and from Europe, and the pandemic have exacerbated a pre-existing shortfall.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/57810729

Loads of empty shelves at Tesco last night for various things, very annoying.

Waitrose, (South London/Kent), very poor. No cereal at all one day, similarly fruit and veg quite scarce some days. Not sure why, but the small Metro Tesco seems to do a better job, so it probably comes down to delivery companies/drivers and storage depots.

Shortages in Southampton…Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Asda all have gaps in soft drinks, alcohol, fruit and veg and other bits and pieces through the stores

Where has all the pate gone, none on the shelves, Ocado sold out!