How are your supermarket shelves?

[HomeAgain]

Nearly everything we've tried to get in the past week has been in stock. 🙂  Higher prices, but in stock.  Today I went for two kinds of bread, two kinds of peanut butter (we have a crunchy/creamy disagreement in this house), milk, and spinach. I ended up getting two packaged salads as well because there was a large variety of them but the store overall looked better stocked than it had in weeks.  I think the only thing on my list over the week that I have not been able to get has been preserved lemons. That was a long shot anyway, so I'm not upset about it.

 

[shawthorne44]

DH just got back from the grocery store and he made an interesting comment.   There is an upside to the expensive meat, and it isn't that we eat less meat.    The sale meat has had an awesome selection.   Of course, being happy that high-quality ground beef is merely in the low $5/lb is another different thing.  

[Faith-manor]

I wanted chicken thighs today. Couldn't get them, and so went four places trying. I am wondering if there has been a lot of slaughter due to Birdflu.

We have also been unable to milk or cream that is not at or beyond it's sell date, and the supply of even that has been somewhat sporadic.

[Idalou]

Everything seems stocked here, as usual, except canned cat food and a lot of the dry, but that may be due to more people switching to the dry versions.

[Ting Tang]

There has been a lot less of everything I have noticed at our Walmart, which is where I do most of our grocery shopping.  Prices are high.  My husband splurged on a bag of twizzlers for the kids, and they are now super skinny---shrinkflation.  I know that isn't necessary for survival, but it is troubling. I always wonder if things will ever go back to "normal."

[Faith-manor]

1 hour ago, Ting Tang said:

There has been a lot less of everything I have noticed at our Walmart, which is where I do most of our grocery shopping.  Prices are high.  My husband splurged on a bag of twizzlers for the kids, and they are now super skinny---shrinkflation.  I know that isn't necessary for survival, but it is troubling. I always wonder if things will ever go back to "normal."

No, it won't. Even if their cost to produce and deliver goes way down, companies will have us conditioned to higher prices and smaller amounts, so this is a forever kind of thing.

[itsheresomewhere]

Pasta is in short supply in the two stores I went into.  So is my elderly neighbor’s beloved diet root beer.  

[shawthorne44]

19 hours ago, itsheresomewhere said:

Pasta is in short supply in the two stores I went into.  So is my elderly neighbor’s beloved diet root beer.  

I gave up on soda companies about a year ago after being a major-league Diet Coke addict for decades.  You might to mention to your neighbor that I like the Soda Stream Diet Root Beer. I even switched to Diet Root Beer as my default soda.  

It also isn't hard to make your own syrups.   The nice thing for me about the Soda Stream Diet Root Beer is that they use Splenda.   99.9% of sodas in my grocery stores right now is corn syrup or nutrasweet.  

You can make the sodastream cheaper by buying a CO2 tank from Home Depot/Lowe's and a special hose from Amazon.  

[HomeAgain]

Enchilada sauce, nowhere to be found.  Yes, I can make my own.  Yes, I have the ingredients for it.  Do I want to?  No. I want the cheap-ish can that is comfort food right now while it's snowing.

And I mentioned it in the other thread, but egg prices have been wacky.  Up to $9/dozen last week at the one store.  Like, we live where backyard coops are a normal thing and people sell their fresh eggs on the side of the road for $5.  Why the store thinks it can charge $9 is beyond me.  But this is also the same store that is running a sale on Hershey bars at 2/$5 for a six pack, but the same six packs are also in the clearance bin for $2.89. I told dh we need to avoid them for a while, go to our other grocery stores instead.

[itsheresomewhere]

57 minutes ago, shawthorne44 said:

I gave up on soda companies about a year ago after being a major-league Diet Coke addict for decades.  You might to mention to your neighbor that I like the Soda Stream Diet Root Beer. I even switched to Diet Root Beer as my default soda.  

It also isn't hard to make your own syrups.   The nice thing for me about the Soda Stream Diet Root Beer is that they use Splenda.   99.9% of sodas in my grocery stores right now is corn syrup or nutrasweet.  

You can make the sodastream cheaper by buying a CO2 tank from Home Depot/Lowe's and a special hose from Amazon.  

She is well into her 90s and would not want to try it.  Plus, she is set on her brand lol. 

Edited March 9, 2022 by itsheresomewhere

[fairfarmhand]

I got a weird  kinda panicky feeling in my chest in the grocery store this week. Eggs went up by $2 in the last 3 weeks.  (I have chickens, these are the ones I feed to my dog) And I was just shocked by how little I bought with $60

[prairiewindmomma]

My local Walmart has had a lot of product missing and prices are high, and had been increasing weekly.  Trader Joe's has been picked over the last few times I went in. Same with Target, and most of the chains here. I went in person to a different store this weekend and prices were so much more reasonable and the produce looked amazing. I'm doing a store switch for my weekly shopping even though it's further away. 

[kbutton]

On 1/26/2022 at 2:22 PM, Tenaj said:

I've been wondering if Meijer may be in a bit of trouble financially or just going through a down time?  Ours has been sparse, too.  In our area they were the last to get organized for pickup orders and the shelves seem really sparse the last few times I've been in there.  Our store just has a generally unkept look which is very unusual.  It was my go to store for years but I had to switch during the pandemic because of their lack of/poor quality pickup service so it makes me sad to think they may not make it.

We went in Meijer when they were giving out masks, and ours seemed to be okay. We were just dipping in for a few things though. I stopped shopping there regularly when their own brand products starting not being as good. Their customer service has always been in the toilet locally, except for the pharmacy. That's pretty good, and the pharmacist knows my DH professionally, so we never have an issue if we have an issue, IYKWIM. 

I would be sad if it totally went away. I am finally beyond some of the atrocious things that happened when I shopped there with a cranky infant, so I was thinking of at least shopping the sale fliers. It was so bad for so long that even that was not worthy my time for many years.

On 3/8/2022 at 2:52 PM, shawthorne44 said:

DH just got back from the grocery store and he made an interesting comment.   There is an upside to the expensive meat, and it isn't that we eat less meat.    The sale meat has had an awesome selection.   Of course, being happy that high-quality ground beef is merely in the low $5/lb is another different thing.  

Yes! Same here if you are there on the right day. We get a half cow, but I have no idea where we are on the waiting list for the next one, so we supplement with sale cuts and Sam's.

 

Overall, our Sam's membership becomes more valuable by the day. We went and stocked up on things we usually don't buy in bulk that we expect to have climb in price. If we didn't have a reason to drive near there for other things, it might not be worth it, but now we're getting gas as often as possible there, and a few reliable products we buy there are adding up.

[Melissa in Australia]

went shopping today

 no coconut cream or coconut milk available anywhere ( I use if for curry)

 What I found shocking was the price of veggies. I had a look so I could see the prices as we grow our own. Broccoli was $9g, and Cauliflower was $9 a head Celery was just under $6 head, potatoes were $5 for 2 kg. I didn't look any further, I was  shocked by the cauliflower. The just about doubling of veggie prices will be the floods, I don't think the increase in  fuel has been factored in yet.

 

[Frances]

We did a big shopping tonight. The only thing completely out of stock was the natural, no sugar, no stir PB we like. We go through a ton and are completely out. I’ll likely be looking elsewhere this weekend. I should have learned my lesson from early in the pandemic and not let our stock get so low. They only sell it in 16 oz containers which I don’t understand because the stir varieties come in much larger containers and never seem to be out of stock.

[Ausmumof3]

Things have been pretty normal here. I think the yoghurt we eat jumped 50c but it’s been cheap for a long time. Weirdly almonds are really cheap this year. It used to be super cheap to buy imported cashews and peanuts but those prices have jumped while almonds are back around $15 per kg. Ginger is quite expensive ($50/kg).  Cauliflower was $2.50 at the markets though small. I think because we eat a lot of local seasonal stuff it’s not too bad at the moment. I bought coconut milk a week or two ago no worries. Beef is steady. Lamb prices are crazy high still: We do have a tonne of produce from our gardens and friends and family right now so maybe we’re a bit insulated. 
 

eta Kmart shelves are still much lighter on than they were a couple of years ago. I’m not sure if that’s supply chain or a strategy.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Ausmumof3

[HomeAgain]

3 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

went shopping today

 no coconut cream or coconut milk available anywhere ( I use if for curry)

 What I found shocking was the price of veggies. I had a look so I could see the prices as we grow our own. Broccoli was $9g, and Cauliflower was $9 a head Celery was just under $6 head, potatoes were $5 for 2 kg. I didn't look any further, I was  shocked by the cauliflower. The just about doubling of veggie prices will be the floods, I don't think the increase in  fuel has been factored in yet.

 

I'm starting to see similar here.  I have a list of greens that are usually under $2/bunch: dandelion leaves, turnip greens, collard greens...I use them in place of kale or bok choy because they're a lot less expensive.  At the store last week nothing was under $3.50.

Cauliflower has always been on the high side here because it's a veggie du jour, but dandelion greens nearly doubling?  Insanity.  I may just have to give it two weeks here and pick them from my front yard. 😄

[Carrie12345]

4 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

went shopping today

 no coconut cream or coconut milk available anywhere ( I use if for curry)

 What I found shocking was the price of veggies. I had a look so I could see the prices as we grow our own. Broccoli was $9g, and Cauliflower was $9 a head Celery was just under $6 head, potatoes were $5 for 2 kg. I didn't look any further, I was  shocked by the cauliflower. The just about doubling of veggie prices will be the floods, I don't think the increase in  fuel has been factored in yet.

 

I’ve been able to get coconut milk at my regular grocery store, but not Walmart.  Even at the grocery store, the online system only lists the ones that are $2-3+, but they carry a $1.69 brand (or was about a week and a half ago) in the Spanish foods section. 

Probably not helpful for Australia, but maybe to people elsewhere.

[Carrie12345]

This past week, I only went inside Walmart for less than 5 minutes (to check for chicken) and I did a lap through Shoprite.  On the surface, they look almost the same as they have for the past ~2 years.  But I was pointing out to dh how there are suddenly 5 sections of X instead of 2, and they’re only 2-3 deep instead of full and double stacked.  I think it finally sank in for him.

Nothing specific to note that I haven’t mentioned in the past. Prices definitely going up. Milk nearing $5/gall. Pasta is sad.

[Faith-manor]

Chicken is not easy to find. Milk is sporadic, and often when it finally arrives it is at or past its expiration date. 

[shawthorne44]

Food prices are going to get much worse.   Gas was really high even before Ukraine.  That means producing crops costs a lot more.   I live in a farm area.   Many of the fields around me are idle and my farm friends say they'll be idle this summer.    They've calculated the cost to produce and the price they'll expect to get and then said no.   Of course some will be producing, and they'll be able to still make a little money because the supply will be low.  But their highly inflated costs will be in the price of food.  

[Serenade]

On 3/9/2022 at 5:15 PM, fairfarmhand said:

I got a weird  kinda panicky feeling in my chest in the grocery store this week. Eggs went up by $2 in the last 3 weeks.  (I have chickens, these are the ones I feed to my dog) And I was just shocked by how little I bought with $60

I get that weird panicky feeling when grocery shopping, too.  I find it so much more work to shop for groceries now, trying to stretch my grocery dollars as best I can.  I've been managing to keep the amount I spend fairly steady, but we've had to make some changes to the things we eat, and I also have my biggest eater away at college on a meal plan.  Thank goodness!  But that is only a temporary fix.

[HomeAgain]

Anyone else finding a weird lack of Easter candies or is it just us?

Most stores here have a handful of options, but not like in previous years.  And the little gimmicky toys and premade baskets seem to be in short supply as well. It's a weird looking aisle. Even Target's seasonal section is mostly gardening stuff here.  It was a little off-putting to see fertilizer next to chocolate bunnies.

Dh and I are making the final shift away from low-candy, high activity baskets.  Usually it's a book, activity, chocolate bunny and a few small things. The youngest is a tween.  Each kid is getting a few candies to hunt for and I'm buying a board game as a family gift. Chocolate bunnies will still be on the table, but so will a few homemade desserts.

[Faith-manor]

32 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Anyone else finding a weird lack of Easter candies or is it just us?

Most stores here have a handful of options, but not like in previous years.  And the little gimmicky toys and premade baskets seem to be in short supply as well. It's a weird looking aisle. Even Target's seasonal section is mostly gardening stuff here.  It was a little off-putting to see fertilizer next to chocolate bunnies.

Dh and I are making the final shift away from low-candy, high activity baskets.  Usually it's a book, activity, chocolate bunny and a few small things. The youngest is a tween.  Each kid is getting a few candies to hunt for and I'm buying a board game as a family gift. Chocolate bunnies will still be on the table, but so will a few homemade desserts.

Same here. I noticed that though I wasn't actively shopping for it. We live in a lower income area, and I wonder if the stores opted not to order very much of this stuff since inflation is causing folks to cut back a lot. Some of the local stores couldn't get rid of Valentine's candy until it had been marked down 75%.

[Carrie12345]

Dh just shared with me a conversation he had yesterday with a fire friend who is a truck driver for food and pharmaceutical. He says the warehouses are basically empty. 😳 

Now, he also said he expects it to be fine in a month or so, though I don’t know what that’s based on. But he was making it very clear to dh that it’s going to be pretty bad for a bit.

ETA: I mean… this is one guy in one area. One that we trust, but I’m not trying to say he knows everything for everywhere.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Carrie12345

[mmasc]

My shelves yesterday were well stocked—plenty of dairy, meats, milk, eggs, produce, etc. The problem was the prices, not the availability. 😞

[prairiewindmomma]

west coast—weird lack of Easter candy here in 4 stores I went into. Costco had a limited stash, so we had luck there.

[regentrude]

Midwest, rural town. Shelves look fine, could get everything, just prices are higher.

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

west coast—weird lack of Easter candy here in 4 stores I went into. Costco had a limited stash, so we had luck there.

 

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

Anyone else finding a weird lack of Easter candies or is it just us?

 

Our stores had Easter candies out very early, same time as St Patrick’s Day items.

9 hours ago, Melissa in Australia said:

went shopping today

 no coconut cream or coconut milk available anywhere ( I use if for curry)

 

Coconut milk doubled in price around the start of the pandemic for even the cheapest brand. We used to pay close to a dollar. We ended up buying 5 boxes of 6 cans each when Costco had a sale.

Do you have an asian Indian store nearby? They tend to have coconut milk and coconut cream.

[HomeAgain]

22 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

 

 

Do you have an asian Indian store nearby? They tend to have coconut milk and coconut cream.

Just a thought - check the liquor aisle or store for coconut cream and milk.  It's usually a few cents more here, but always stocked near the pina colada supplies - even when the regular two aisles are out ("ethnic" foods and coffee, near the condensed milk)

[prairiewindmomma]

Easter candy was placed out very early also here—actually overlapping with Valentine’s Day—but the quantities available have been very low, and the shelf allocation space has been about 1/3 of normal. 

We initially planned on completely skipping Easter baskets, but having been to Costco now, we have a basket for Youngest and the rest are getting a handful of chocolates. We are planning a retirement party for the Easter bunny as part of our meal instead…we’ve been doing it for 20 years and Youngest has finally(!) given up belief as a third grader. She never believed in Santa, but the Easter Bunny was Real. 🥳

[math teacher]

10 hours ago, Frances said:

We did a big shopping tonight. The only thing completely out of stock was the natural, no sugar, no stir PB we like. We go through a ton and are completely out. I’ll likely be looking elsewhere this weekend. I should have learned my lesson from early in the pandemic and not let our stock get so low. They only sell it in 16 oz containers which I don’t understand because the stir varieties come in much larger containers and never seem to be out of stock.

I had to order some for mother in law from amazon. It was out of stock for two of my ordering cycles.

[Ali in OR]

I did a Target/Costco run yesterday. I bought my Easter candy at Target--I expect everywhere will be out when we get closer to Easter. That's the way it was for Valentine's Day candy and Halloween candy. I was hoping Target might have some things that have not been in our local grocery store. I had luck with Panera Caesar Salad Dressing but no luck with chocolate Belvita or Teddy Grahams (kids coming home for spring break) or blue Top Ramen. No luck at Costco for a couple of the foods the girls requested (taquitos, Mott's fruit snacks).

[prairiewindmomma]

@Ali in ORAre you talking about the blue label that used to be called Oriental Flavor and is now called Soy Sauce? They renamed it, but it’s still available…at least up here. Walmart and Winco and Target been out for forever but Safeway/Albertson’s/Fred Meyer usually has it in, and it pops up on Amazon from time to time. A 24 count at Fred Meyer is $6.29 right now. 
 

I am sorry you aren’t finding it locally. 

[fairfarmhand]

6 hours ago, Faith-manor said:

Chicken is not easy to find. Milk is sporadic, and often when it finally arrives it is at or past its expiration date. 

Same. The 3 pound bags of chicken tenders (not breaded, the raw frozen tenders) that I use tons of have been out of stock for weeks at all of my area Walmart stores. They're also rare at the other supermarkets.

So far, we're not having trouble finding milk, though it has gone up in price like everything else. I will be so glad when my cow has her calf and I'll have fresh raw instead of store milk. Though I bet her feed will be uber high. I haven't priced in awhile since she's been dry and she only gets hay when she's not in milk.

Edited March 12, 2022 by fairfarmhand

[Ali in OR]

2 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

@Ali in ORAre you talking about the blue label that used to be called Oriental Flavor and is now called Soy Sauce? They renamed it, but it’s still available…at least up here. Walmart and Winco and Target been out for forever but Safeway/Albertson’s/Fred Meyer usually has it in, and it pops up on Amazon from time to time. A 24 count at Fred Meyer is $6.29 right now. 
 

I am sorry you aren’t finding it locally. 

Yes, that's the one. I have been checking all of our local stores, including Winco, Safeway, and Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer will sometimes have 6-packs of the Maruchan brand in that flavor, so that's what we've been doing most recently. 

[AnneGG]

I was able to get 18 eggs for 99 cents, 80/20 ground beef for $2.99 lb, strawberries $1.59 a pound, and organic bananas were only 19 cents a pound. A mix of Aldi and Kroger. 
 

I went into Aldi on Tuesday and grabbed heavy cream for $2.99. I wanted whipped cream with all those delicious strawberries I got on sale. I went back in on Friday for diapers and wipes, the heavy cream was $3.59! I was shocked! 
 

ETA: I scored 32 oz organic yogurt for 69 cents at Kroger! I bought three cartons. I was so excited! It’s the little things these days. Lawlz. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by AnneGG

[math teacher]

Just went to the supermarket and flour/meal is very low. Packages of ramen were wiped out. Everything else was fine. I stocked up on  some canned foods, baking products, and rice.

[Martha in GA]

58 minutes ago, AnneGG said:

I was able to get 18 eggs for 99 cents, 80/20 ground beef for $2.99 lb, strawberries $1.59 a pound, and organic bananas were only 19 cents a pound. A mix of Aldi and Kroger. 

Our prices, in my low cost of living area, have never been that low, even pre-pandemic and inflation.

[Carrie12345]

46 minutes ago, Martha in GA said:

Our prices, in my low cost of living area, have never been that low, even pre-pandemic and inflation.

Same. I’ve been hearing a lot about Kroger egg prices, but no Kroger for me!

[ScoutTN]

Today the produce section had gaping holes. Maybe I just shopped too late in the day? 
 

[Arcadia]

25 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Today the produce section had gaping holes. Maybe I just shopped too late in the day? 
 

Do you know when they replenish their stock? My nearest supermarket replenishes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However the person replenishing the Asian food aisle only does that on Monday. 

[Melissa Louise]

Shelves full, everything $$. 

[Ausmumof3]

Take back what I said yesterday. Sugar shelves were bare. I’m assuming that’s to do with the flooding in QLD. Also there was no home brand of a lot of products only the expensive brand name stuff.

[Ausmumof3]

Also cauliflower in coles was $7.50 and a cucumber at $3.90 compared to $2.50 and $1 at the markets. Crazy!

[Ausmumof3]

My brain is having a bit of time processing that over two years it’s become almost normal or expected that some types of food might not be available.

[Arcadia]

9 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

My brain is having a bit of time processing that over two years it’s become almost normal or expected that some types of food might not be available.

The pandemic has caused short staffing issues which probably led to companies prioritising the most profitable products. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I read this article about things that may be in short supply in 2022 and I was like…that is all of the things…

https://parade.com/1332615/jessicasager/food-shortages-2022/amp/

[freesia]

11 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I read this article about things that may be in short supply in 2022 and I was like…that is all of the things…

https://parade.com/1332615/jessicasager/food-shortages-2022/amp/

Yes, but hopefully not all at once. 

[AnneGG]

19 hours ago, Martha in GA said:

Our prices, in my low cost of living area, have never been that low, even pre-pandemic and inflation.

Kroger’s clearance/ managers special is where it’s at. It’s usually expiring that day or in the next few days. If you do order pickup, they won’t sell you the clearance items, or they aren’t supposed to. 
 

Keep watching the eggs. They typically go on sale around Easter. Aldi had them for 52 cents a dozen this week in our area. My sister lives the next state over and they were 92 cents in her store.

If anyone is on a super tight grocery budget like we are, watch the app vs in store prices really closely. It is an absolute pain to price check everything in the store on your phone, but I saved $40 doing that this week alone. Target is really bad about price difference. Cheese will be $3.99 in the store, $2.99 in the app on the same day at the same time.