Chicken and egg?

Here's the headline: Supermarket shoppers post photos of empty shelves

Synopsis:
Retailers say they are experiencing localised disruption because supplies could not be delivered in the snow.

Supermarkets also say they are experiencing high demand as people stock up after not being able to shop.

Most photos show bread, milk and eggs shortages, although other absent items include fruit, vegetables and meat.
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Is this due to "panic buying" or an inadequacy of operations management?

I totally understand how deliveries would have been affected by the recent weather conditions. Perfectly predictable - so does that make it avoidable?

I can also understand that the media focus on "warning, warning, warning" could lead to panic buying (aka higher demand).
I'll won't dwell on the grammar (people stock up AFTER not being able to shop )

But what strikes me most is: why is this "news"?

If you apply the same logic to the medical profession (deliveries affected; shortages) I can see why *that* would be news - it must have happened! Yet that isn't being reported.

What is the news report actually saying? Shortages of bread, milk, eggs; some fruit, veg and meat. I don't see "ready meals" or processed food on that list No one is going to actually "starve".

Sometimes, media reports leave a lot to be desired!​

 

It's panic buying! Having lived on an island in the middle of the Irish Sea it's something I was used to seeing with ferries not moving in bad weather. Bad weather equals panic at the shops and the media doesn't help the situation by frightening people with the worst scenario they can think up. Surprisingly the first thing to disappear were toilet rolls followed by bread.

I can quote from experience here. There are many people including myself a number of years ago that had to have temperature controlled medication (packed in frozen blocks) delivered to my door via a mail special delivery. If it was delayed that batch of very expensive medicine was rendered unfit for use and I'd have to wait for a second delivery up to a week later. For me it wasn't much of a problem but there are others that need medicine to keep them alive.

Hospitals/Doctors surgeries tend to have back up supplies but if there was a major incident they wouldn't last long. The age we live in is all about greed, take what you can when you can for yourself and let others worry about the medical profession, patients and medical supplies.

 

I recently watched a tv programme called When Comedy Goes Wrong. Veteran chat show host Johnny Carson made a topical joke about paper being in short supply. He said that would result in a shortage of toilet paper. The population went berserk bulk buying toilet rolls. The shops couldn’t keep up with demand.

Johnny Carson Causes A Toilet Paper Shortage In 1973

G.

 

Things are not stored like it used to be
Bread is made daily and to shops requirments
Milk is the same

Anything which is daily food is turn around daily so when people panic it is a day or two in which to make up demand then it can be over and the food wasted

Supply and demand

The supply chain is very tight, so, if shops up the orders the supply chain will have problems

so if a shop knows it's sells 5 milks it orders 5 or 6 milks but won't get any more till the next day

We always have 2 weeks of food in the house/frezzer, we buy milk for the week, we had no problems with no food as we had it in the house and no need to go out to get food

Edit
There's a big bisuit makers which does not have a wherehouse to store it's bisuits, bisuits are make and sent out on lorrys to supermarkets wherehouses

 

Well, went shopping yesturday, and some shelves M T, bread shelves the worst and being that some of the bakers are only 10 miles away and we only had badish roads for one day !!!!!!!!!!!!!! they still couldn't get there with 3 days of clear roads

But there was lots of bananas and pineapples etc which comes from the other side of the world

Alot of companys use agency drivers which some will refuse to go out or they will not drive that old lorry