Supermarkets - the Megathread

landofthetree

Maybe it's because I'm not in Dublin but there wasn't much panic down the midlands. Apart from toilet roll for a couple of days.

Supercell

Are people shopping as normal now though?
We have decided to do two-week family shops now instead of every week. Don't see the need to go anywhere near the shops unless absolutely avoidable.
Not panic buying per se but still be be buying far more than normal per trip.
What's the quietest time to do shopping at the moment?, looks like there is a mad rush to get in early at the moment if the morning trolley queues outside my local Tesco are anything to go by.

NIMAN

Re: the fridge freezers.

I honestly think people thought there would be no food in the shops for weeks.

Probably a randomer said it on Facebook. That's all that's needed these days to cause panic, people are getting incredibly gullible. Some of the social media rumours spread faster than a virus.

splinter65

paw patrol wrote: »

we bought a load of food ..loads of it.
was down Dunnes 2 days ago and many empty shelves and very little fresh fruit/veg in sight. No free range eggs and limited fresh meat - stuff I'd normally eat daily.

some eaten by now , some in freezer/fridge / cupboard.
Apart from the off licence my bulk buy kept me out of supermarkets and away from the infected.
I'd do it again.

What is it to you?

What’s it to me? When you were grabbing the last of the fresh chicken and steaks and broccoli and potatoes off the shelves to pile up in your trolley in order to stock up your freezer and your larder to make sure that you and your family didn’t have to make any sacrifices whatsoever you never thought for one minute about anyone else who couldn’t get to the shops till later. Old people. People working shifts. You never gave a thought to anyone else. Good for you.

sbsquarepants

michellie wrote: »

Smug attitude.

Why so?

Looking out for our families should be our number 1 priority at the best of times, and especially at a time like this.

My concerns are very much prioritised as myself and my immediate family, then my extended family and friends, then my neighbours and aquaintances and then and ONLY then random strangers / society at large.

jrosen

paw patrol wrote: »

we bought a load of food ..loads of it.
was down Dunnes 2 days ago and many empty shelves and very little fresh fruit/veg in sight. No free range eggs and limited fresh meat - stuff I'd normally eat daily.

some eaten by now , some in freezer/fridge / cupboard.
Apart from the off licence my bulk buy kept me out of supermarkets and away from the infected.
I'd do it again.

What is it to you?

Its a pretty big deal to anyone who cant buy food for their family, or someone on a limited diet just so certain other grabby people can have their freezer stocked.

Plumbthedepths

Supercell wrote: »

Are people shopping as normal now though?
We have decided to do two-week family shops now instead of every week. Don't see the need to go anywhere near the shops unless absolutely avoidable.
Not panic buying per se but still be be buying far more than normal per trip.
What's the quietest time to do shopping at the moment?, looks like there is a mad rush to get in early at the moment if the morning trolley queues outside my local Tesco are anything to go by.

You know alot of shops have restrictions in place on the number of one item you can buy?
Went to my local ALDI yesterday, only 60 allowed in the store at a time.

splinter65

paw patrol wrote: »

I have a duty to myself and my family and our aim was to avoid the virus and we have done this so far.
Didn't our glorious leader say the shops would be full throughout - so whats your point?

It was sad video for sure but I can't go around afraid to do anything for fear of upsetting random people I doubt my buying stole from her trolley tbh.

anyway I'll eat all my food so nothing going to waste.

As long as you’re alright everyone else can go to hell. Why should you worry about a nurse or a fireman or anyone else for that matter ? They’d better be doing a good job if you or any of your loved ones get sick though, isn’t that right?

JustAThought

landofthetree wrote: »

Maybe it's because I'm not in Dublin but there wasn't much panic down the midlands. Apart from toilet roll for a couple of days.

wait til they run out of it!!!
+ Are there Sainsburys in Ireland or are we comparing apples with oranges?

Most local shoos -large supermarkets - are facing off their shelves with random goods like bottles of cike, own brand cornflake boxes to hide the fact that their shelves are mostly empty. Non perishable goods are not available and certainly not the normal quality ranges. Lots of things not possible to buy including tinned fruit, banannas, tinned fish, pasta, tomatoes or tins of of sauces etc etc. The ones that stocked up were the smart ones. As the military enforcement and policing of no-one out of their appartments or outdoors on the streets or in shops in Spain, Italy, France & other parts of Europe & the world continues it will be harder and harder to farm, process, make, and distribute our normal range of foodstuffs.

Shop away-its far from over yet.

mrcheez

I started buying Almond Milk instead of standard milk just because of its long shelf-life.

I now love the stuff and doubt I'll go back to dairy milk even after the epidemic is over

splinter65

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Why so?

Looking out for our families should be our number 1 priority at the best of times, and especially at a time like this.

My concerns are very much prioritised as myself and my immediate family, then my extended family and friends, then my neighbours and aquaintances and then and ONLY then random strangers / society at large.

The random strangers that are key workers who do shift work, nurses ambulance drivers Gardaí care home staff doctors hospital porters, you expect them to be fit and healthy and giving 100% at work if you need them though, don’t you?

jrosen

Supercell wrote: »

Are people shopping as normal now though?
We have decided to do two-week family shops now instead of every week. Don't see the need to go anywhere near the shops unless absolutely avoidable.
Not panic buying per se but still be be buying far more than normal per trip.
What's the quietest time to do shopping at the moment?, looks like there is a mad rush to get in early at the moment if the morning trolley queues outside my local Tesco are anything to go by.

Im shopping as normal. The only thing Id say Ive bought that I usually dont this time of year is more berries. My kids love them but dont like them when they are sat in their lunch boxes. So since they are home Ive picked up some.
Other than that my grocery list is the exact same.

ednwireland

NIMAN wrote: »

To be honest I think that the promises of suppliers that shelves will be fully stocked and that there is loads in the supply chain is slightly disingenuous.

I was in Sainsbury's yesterday, large store.

funny that i assume you were in derry / my sister lives in the uk, and i was saying i went to the shops and the shelves pretty much full and no queues (lidl and supervalu in donegal) she was sayin at the same point that there were queues to get in and when you did freezer was empty no toilet rolls etc, etc.
also a work collegue in newcastle went out for bread and he said there wasa queue round the block to get in the supermarket.

maybe its a uk thing

Cloudio9

I didn’t panic but because I’d rather die of starvation than queue in a shop.

NIMAN

My concerns are very much prioritised as myself and my immediate family, then my extended family and friends, then my neighbours and aquaintances and then and ONLY then random strangers / society at large.

Lucky that random stranger who works as a fireman, nurse, doctor, guard who doesn't work to this logic.

JustAThought

NIMAN wrote: »

Lucky that random stranger who works as a fireman, nurse, doctor, guard who doesn't work to this logic.

o please - you know the shopping habits of every fireman/nurse etc. Its getting pathetic.

sbsquarepants

splinter65 wrote: »

The random strangers that are key workers who do shift work, nurses ambulance drivers Gardaí care home staff doctors hospital porters, you expect them to be fit and healthy and giving 100% at work if you need them though, don’t you?

And they all live alone and have no friends or family that could help them out?

We have 2 nurses and a doctor in the family - we'll make sure they are fed and watered should it come to that.

My priority is my family - i'll make absolutely no apology for that.

I'm not a doomsday prepper, i got a bit of extra stuff so that we don't need to pop to the shops every second day. The missus is at home with the kids, i'm going from work to home to work. I do the shopping once a week for fresh stuff and anything that's running low, try get in and out of 1 shop as quickly as possible. That's the sensible thing to be doing, not getting the bare minimum and ending up in and out like a fiddlers elbow!

bee06

The U.K. panic buying/supply chain issues have gone on for quite a while. My brother lives over there and started work at 6am so could only shop in the evening after work and the shelves were empty every evening. Still seeing stuff on Instagram about shortages.

Here it seemed to be a once off weekend thing. We didn’t panic buy anything. I did have a momentary “are we making a mistake not doing it” as I was 39 weeks pregnant but copped myself on quickly. Doing a normal weekly shop since and no issues with shortages. Husband did the shop in Dunnes yesterday and said there was no issues.

michellie

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Why so?

Looking out for our families should be our number 1 priority at the best of times, and especially at a time like this.

My concerns are very much prioritised as myself and my immediate family, then my extended family and friends, then my neighbours and aquaintances and then and ONLY then random strangers / society at large.

I have done a weekly shop and managed to get everything I need and provide for my family without buying too much of one thing.

Providing for my family shouldn't mean another family/ elderly couple /single person goes without

zell12

Tesco UK is limiting online shoppers to 80 items per shop in a drive to free up more delivery slots to households in self-isolation
A typical online order before the coronavirus would contain fewer than 60 items, but the average has leaped recently due to the number of very large shops now over 100 items.

\
Is it true that there is <60 items in the average online grocery shop?

Plumbthedepths

JustAThought wrote: »

o please - you know the shopping habits of every fireman/nurse etc. Its getting pathetic.

No more pathetic than trying to defend indefensible behaviour.

paw patrol

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

Actually you have a duty not to be a selfish ass*ole in times like these. Thankfully you are in the minority.

nobody said that. I think you just made that up .

somebody in my house is high risk if they got covid19 - so the rest of us need to avoid getting it too.
your comment is amazing , you seem to think the comfort of the stranger is worth as much to me as the safety of my family.

pathetic.

Hamsterchops

splinter65 wrote: »

Now that it’s seems to have registered with everyone that there is no shortage of supplies in the supermarkets, will any boardsies be honest enough to admit that they queued for hours outside Aldi? Piled their trolley with pasta? Bought 100 toilet rolls? Fought an old woman over a bag of frozen chips? If so, did you end up dumping stuff or what?

Was in Aldi at the height of the toilet roll hording madness, shoppers piling up masses of toilet rolls on their trolleys!
I have also wondered who they are and would they come clean if pressed (excuse the pun)

Hamsterchops

I am also happy to say that eggs & pasta are back on the supermarket shelves ✓ Toilet rolls, healthy supply too...

ixoy

Didn't panic buy but did go into the shops that night out of curiosity to see the carnage. Spoke to a staff member who kind of shook his head in despair.

Since then, have been doing a weekly shop late at night when it's quiet. That's topping up my existing supplies which is not far off a month's supply which I bought in advance of the madness. Buying weekly at least ensures there's some fresh stuff there though and not just bloody pasta.

Beasty

Threads merged:rolleyes:

Please can you consider if there is an existing thread that could accommodate your discussion rather than starting a new one every time you think you are being "novel"

That's 101 thread merges in this forum already and it's averaging about 10 a day since it was set up

It's difficult enough keeping up with the dozen ore so threads that do cover pretty much every aspect already (most of them being linked from the Charter thread)

Thanks

sbsquarepants

michellie wrote: »

I have done a weekly shop and managed to get everything I need and provide for my family without buying too much of one thing.

Providing for my family shouldn't mean another family/ elderly couple /single person goes without

Good for you. Very short sighted i'd argue.

What happens if one of you get sick and the whole house has to isolate for 2 weeks?

I'm not talking about buying pallet loads of shít i'll never use. There is a reasonable chance that at some point soon we will all have to stay in the house for a fortnight. If that happens at least we have a fortnights worth of grub sitting there. A fortnights worth, not a years!

Anyone who doesn't have that at this stage is a fúcking idiot in my opinion.

MadYaker

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Good for you. Very short sighted i'd argue.

What happens if one of you get sick and the whole house has to isolate for 2 weeks?

I'm not talking about buying pallet loads of shít i'll never use. There is a reasonable chance that at some point soon we will all have to stay in the house for a fortnight. If that happens at least we have a fortnights worth of grub sitting there. A fortnights worth, not a years!

Anyone who doesn't have that at this stage is a fúcking idiot in my opinion.

I'll still have to go to work no matter what sort of lockdown happens so I might as well still go to a shop once a week (unless im self isolating obviously) but I reckon I still have maybe 2 weeks worth of food. 2 weeks worth doesn't even really fill my kitchen

freshpopcorn

Supercell wrote: »

Are people shopping as normal now though?

We are basically doing our weekly shop and not really doing top up shops.
I remember on the Thursday when everybody was meant to have being panic buying I was in Tesco and SuperValu and it was busy but not as crazy as some people made it out to be.
The majority of people I saw were just doing a weekly shop but they may have done it on Thursday instead of Friday or Saturday.
An example was I was in Tesco we parked easily got everything we wanted including toilet roll and walked straight up to a till without a queue.
Then I saw comments online about how everything was sold out and the queues were awful.
Another person put up how she spoke to a lady who could get no bread and how upsetting it was. Loads of bread was in SuperValu that morning.

freshpopcorn

MadYaker wrote: »

I heard from a guy that works in an electrical shop that people were even buying chest freezers after filling the freezer they already had, the mind boggles. Id love to talk to someone who did this to ask them why.

There are people and they won’t even go into their rural isolated garden in the fear they’ll catch it. That’s why people are doing such a thing.

odyssey06

splinter65 wrote: »

As long as you’re alright everyone else can go to hell. Why should you worry about a nurse or a fireman or anyone else for that matter ? They’d better be doing a good job if you or any of your loved ones get sick though, isn’t that right?

The point is you are less likely to get sick if you're lined up enough food to cocoon at the height of the outbreak. If you are in a vulnerable group you are doing the emergency services a favour.

Every shopping trip is a risk. Every encounter with a delivery at the door is a risk.

Alun

While I'm finding that food supplies aren't a problem at the moment, household and cleaning items seem a bit problematic. Couldn't find a bin liner for love or money today and have been looking for liquid soap and antibacterial wipes for the last 3 weeks.

Now, I'm limiting myself to one weekly shop, in one shop (Lidl), as I don't want to increase my risk of exposure by traipsing around shop after shop looking for these things, so maybe that's the problem.

NickNickleby

Andrew76 wrote: »

Tescos Arklow has plenty of empty shelves as of a few minutes ago. Apparently they had deliveries in this morning too. Plenty of greedy ****ers down this way it seems.

Went to Tesco Artane Castle just now. Queue to get in was right out the front door and down the side of the shopping centre, as far as the little zebra crossing. Took about 10 minutes to get in. Had everything I needed, which wasn't that much really. Just the staples. Biggest multiple i bought was 4 tins of beans for whatever. Saw one overloaded trolley, and the oul one pushing was arguing about the queuing system, and kept on about it even after going through the checkout. My attempt to lighten the mood wasn't warmly welcomed.

Snow Garden

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Good for you. Very short sighted i'd argue.

What happens if one of you get sick and the whole house has to isolate for 2 weeks?

I'm not talking about buying pallet loads of shít i'll never use. There is a reasonable chance that at some point soon we will all have to stay in the house for a fortnight. If that happens at least we have a fortnights worth of grub sitting there. A fortnights worth, not a years!

Anyone who doesn't have that at this stage is a fúcking idiot in my opinion.

But in that scenario you could get a friend/relative/neighbour to drop extra supplies at the door at some point over the 14 days. Simple as that. Or you could go online.

I am dropping foodstuff and supplies to my elderly father once a week now. If I am passing I will also drop off some fresh fruit and milk.

SusanC10

Tesco delivered today. Got everything I ordered except flour. Again. Asked the delivery guy and he told me that the shop got flour this morning but that people came in at 7am and bought it all and that this happens every day.

zinfandel

splinter65 wrote: »

Now that it’s seems to have registered with everyone that there is no shortage of supplies in the supermarkets, will any boardsies be honest enough to admit that they queued for hours outside Aldi? Piled their trolley with pasta? Bought 100 toilet rolls? Fought an old woman over a bag of frozen chips? If so, did you end up dumping stuff or what?

No I did not panic buy, last time I was in the shop was Friday 13th, got 1 weeks shop , my husband is now sick, I am self isolating and we had our delivery cancelled, so I absolutely wish I had stock piled.

jackofalltrades

Snow Garden wrote: »

But in that scenario you could get a friend/relative/neighbour to drop extra supplies at the door at some point over the 14 days. Simple as that.

Some people don't have that option.
Others don't want someone else to take that risk.
That and shops can be hit and miss in what stock they have.

Or you could go online.

Which can have really long delays.

Living Off The Splash

Need a sack of potatoes.....are there plenty about?

Snow Garden

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

Need a sack of potatoes.....are there plenty about?

Plenty.

Snow Garden

jackofalltrades wrote: »

Some people don't have that option.
Others don't want someone else to take that risk.
That and shops can be hit and miss in what stock they have.
Which can have really long delays.

Very very very few people dont know a friend, relative or neighbour who would drop some food at their door. Even the Gardai are doing it.

beggars_bush

We've been supporting the local fruit and veg shop who are supplied by a lot of local growers

Food quality is excellent and always keeps longer than stiff from the multiples

Snow Garden

SusanC10 wrote: »

Tesco delivered today. Got everything I ordered except flour. Again. Asked the delivery guy and he told me that the shop got flour this morning but that people came in at 7am and bought it all and that this happens every day.

I think some selfish people are stockpiling flour because they see the empty shelves. It's a vicious circle I guess but flour is about the only thing that is in low supply in our supermarket. I suspect a lot of it will go in the bin. Eggs seem to be going short around Dublin but I've seen zero shortage of eggs in the west.

r93kaey5p2izun

Snow Garden wrote: »

But in that scenario you could get a friend/relative/neighbour to drop extra supplies at the door at some point over the 14 days. Simple as that. Or you could go online.

I am dropping foodstuff and supplies to my elderly father once a week now. If I am passing I will also drop off some fresh fruit and milk.

We don't all have friends/relatives/neighbours who are in a position to do that though. Also - online? There are no delivery slots available for Tesco or SV here at all. Zero. SV click and collect left me without 20 basic items from my order yesterday, which I waited 8 days for.

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

Need a sack of potatoes.....are there plenty about?

Couldn't get any here last week. Managed to get 7.5kg yesterday, but that won't last the week.

harr

beggars_bush wrote: »

We've been supporting the local fruit and veg shop who are supplied by a lot of local growers

Food quality is excellent and always keeps longer than stiff from the multiples

Being doing this as well back to using the local butchers and fruit and veg shop . Go for an early morning walk with kids and pick up the groceries we ordered day before . No queueing and orders collected at door of shops. I really did forget how tasty the meat is from a smaller butchers and same goes for veg from greengrocer.

Muahahaha

splinter65 wrote: »

Now that it’s seems to have registered with everyone that there is no shortage of supplies in the supermarkets, will any boardsies be honest enough to admit that they queued for hours outside Aldi? Piled their trolley with pasta? Bought 100 toilet rolls? Fought an old woman over a bag of frozen chips? If so, did you end up dumping stuff or what?

yeah i fought an old lady over frozen chips. I got bleedin' battered

Seriously though anyone know where you could get a thread and needle? Have the pound shops closed or are they still open?

McCrack

Alun wrote: »

While I'm finding that food supplies aren't a problem at the moment, household and cleaning items seem a bit problematic. Couldn't find a bin liner for love or money today and have been looking for liquid soap and antibacterial wipes for the last 3 weeks.

Now, I'm limiting myself to one weekly shop, in one shop (Lidl), as I don't want to increase my risk of exposure by traipsing around shop after shop looking for these things, so maybe that's the problem.

Save yourself and use a cloth with and hot water etc to wash down your surfaces

Antibacterial products are useless on Covid which is a virus.

auspicious

I've been told Dunnes hours for elderly, vulnerable and care workers are 11am till 1pm and no children allowed.
I can't find anything official. Can anyone?

SozBbz

auspicious wrote: »

I've been told Dunnes hours for elderly, vulnerable and care workers are 11am till 1pm and no children allowed.
I can't find anything official. Can anyone?

Just heard those exact hours in a Dunnes add on Newstalk.

auspicious

SozBbz wrote: »

Just heard those exact hours in a Dunnes add on Newstalk.

Cheers.
Is the no children part accurate?

SozBbz

auspicious wrote: »

Cheers.
Is the no children part accurate?

Yep, special mention not to bring kids during those hours.