Oddly Difficult to Find Items During the Pandemic

[tooluser]

I have a family member who owns a wholesale baking operation. The problem (apparently) has not been a shortage of product, but a shortage of consumer-packaged product. IIRC, something like 95% of the mills' production goes into food-service sized packaging, and only 5% into consumer packaging - the production lines just aren't designed to scale up for consumer packages.

During the height of the madness here, I was able to grab some 10lb bags of dry pasta in the local supermarket as they were out of those little boxes.... Worked fine and we are working our way thru some of it still; although cooking instructions were scaled to feed 100 people which is funny to read.

Frozen vegetables here. At the height of the frenzy I guess the grocery store ordered 2.5 lb bags from industrial suppliers. They are non-descript, labelled as "IQF" (individually quick frozen) with industrial whole-bag-at-a-time prep instructions. They look good though. A couple of months after their arrival they were apparently not selling well and went on sale for $1.25 a bag, so I bought some.

[iamlucky13]

A new addition for me today:

Hog panels. Apparently everyone is building stout fences during the pandemic.

I wonder if that's tied to an increase in home vegetable gardens, and trying to keep the critters out of said garden. Although hog panels would be awfully short for that purpose. I'd think deer would just hop right over them and rabbits would go between the wires. Rabbits can squeeze through all sorts of fences that try to keep them out. I'm glad the nearest rabbits are currently about half a mile away, and are just escaped domestic rabbits.

I think it's a general trend of tackling home improvement / hobby farm projects in spare time.

It's seldom even worth trying to keep deer out unless they stand to more or less ruin you financially. I was using a really detailed USDA guide for planning the main part of my fence, and they had criteria for each category of animals. 4' high fences of one variety or another met or exceeded their criteria for every animal except deer.

For deer, they indicated an 8 foot high woven wire fence, with 2 strands of high tensile wire at the top for a total height of 10 feet meets their criteria, but does not exceed it because deer are known to occasionally clear such fences. That requires 14-16 foot long posts depending how firm the soil is, which are huge.

Having once watched a blacktail bound over a Christmas tree farm that was ready for harvest (~6' tall), not because it had to, but presumably because hopping over them was easier for it than threading its way between the trees, I believe it. And I say "bound" rather than "jump" because it was just doing it continuously, row after row, as easily as a person skipping, without any need to pause and wind up again. It was like it had pogo sticks for feet.

[Chip]

Pompeii brand red wine vinegar. Store shelves bare for at least 8 weeks.

There are alternatives, but they suck.

[Jim85]

Not sure what's up with Claussen pickles but ShopRite has been out for weeks (months?) but another supermarket (Redners) had plenty and all varieties.

[Spirit Rider]

In addition to supply chain disruptions that could also be related to how R-22(freon) cannot be manufactured after January 1st 2020. This has driven the price so some people that had repairable R-22 AC may have replaced them instead of repairing them.

New r-22 split systems aren't even being manufactured anymore. Any new system installations would be with R-410a systems. Any supply chain disruptions would be to R-401a components and not R-22 components.

[InMyDreams]

Kid's Clif "Protein" bar, Chocolate Mint. Haven't seen 'em for a couple of weeks.

[Teague]

Trolling motors. Apparently everyone's gone fishin'.

[CardinalRule]

Diet Mountain Dew in cans are nowhere to be found in my area. Ditto Diet Barq's Root Beer in cans.

Caffeine free Coke or Pepsi. We talked to one of the Coca-Cola reps at the store and he said there was an aluminum shortage and so they were only making their core product lines.

Ah...not only are caffeine free products missing, Cherry coke in the mini cans have disappeared from everywhere.

[WoodSpinner]

Evidently there is a run on Kayaks as well!

We were out paddling in a local lake and were offered twice what I paid for our Advanced Element inflatables.

Tempting, but money isn’t everything.

WoodSpinner

[Watty]

In addition to supply chain disruptions that could also be related to how R-22(freon) cannot be manufactured after January 1st 2020. This has driven the price so some people that had repairable R-22 AC may have replaced them instead of repairing them.

New r-22 split systems aren't even being manufactured anymore. Any new system installations would be with R-410a systems. Any supply chain disruptions would be to R-401a components and not R-22 components.

I agree but if you have an old R-22 AC that needs a repair in the past it might have made sense to go on and repair it. Now that R-22 is a lot more expensive then more people would choose to replace rather than repair. That could increase the demand for new ACs which may have helped deplete the available inventory.

[curmudgeon]

Diet Mountain Dew in cans are nowhere to be found in my area. Ditto Diet Barq's Root Beer in cans.

Caffeine free Coke or Pepsi. We talked to one of the Coca-Cola reps at the store and he said there was an aluminum shortage and so they were only making their core product lines.

Ah...not only are caffeine free products missing, Cherry coke in the mini cans have disappeared from everywhere.

Diet Mt Dew seemed to bounce around with Mt Dew "Zero" in my area for a while; maybe the marketing folks were playing around. Back in general supply here, though.

Fresca is very odd in supply, but that seems to have been going on for the last several years (mostly summer only now). I think Coke is trying to get the proliferation of product lines under control; they've been buying, adding new lines, and spinning variants so much that it's getting to be a real challenge to manage.

[Fritschen]

I had exceptional difficulty securing a large dog travel kennel, as all brick & mortar stores were out of stock and all online retailers were either out of stock or had a shipping restriction.

[CardinalRule]

Diet Mountain Dew in cans are nowhere to be found in my area. Ditto Diet Barq's Root Beer in cans.

Caffeine free Coke or Pepsi. We talked to one of the Coca-Cola reps at the store and he said there was an aluminum shortage and so they were only making their core product lines.

Ah...not only are caffeine free products missing, Cherry coke in the mini cans have disappeared from everywhere.

Diet Mt Dew seemed to bounce around with Mt Dew "Zero" in my area for a while; maybe the marketing folks were playing around. Back in general supply here, though.

Fresca is very odd in supply, but that seems to have been going on for the last several years (mostly summer only now). I think Coke is trying to get the proliferation of product lines under control; they've been buying, adding new lines, and spinning variants so much that it's getting to be a real challenge to manage.

Yep, for Coke there was a mention of culling the herd to remove "zombies" from the lineup when KO released earnings. The delicious Orange Vanilla variant of Coke Zero Sugar is another product I have not been able to find this past week, in cans.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/coca- ... 2020-07-21

There definitely seems to be an aluminum shortage, though, and so I assume Coke and Pepsi (and their local bottlers) are having to make decisions.

[Raymond]

Kraft SPIRAL mac 'n cheese

Kraft Spaghetti Classics Tangy Italian Pasta for my teenager.

[sailaway]

Canned bean sprouts. And they must be canning a different variety than one gets fresh, because they are much thicker, hence they hold up in curry in a way that don't believe fresh would.

[TSR]

I had a huge amount of trouble finding decent-quality hair clippers on Amazon and other online sources. I ultimately tracked them down a beauty store that does more business to industry professionals and in hair extensions. But it was enough trouble to find them that it sort of makes you doubt some fundamental tenets of micro-economics/capitalism. Sure, it could take a few months to ramp up production, but after five months you can't pump out more of the one thing you sell to keep Target and Amazon supplied with clippers? Talk about a wasted opportunity. I'm sure there's information here I'm missing, but jeez. (And I'm aware that there are different supply chains for things like retail and wholesale food/toilet paper, etc., but that wouldn't seem to apply to this particular consumer item.)

Its called a just in time supply chain. No manufacturer has weeks of raw materials on hand. If they are missing just 1 piece they are stopped from making even 1. it could be as simple as a screw. Once they start making them, they stage then get on a boat for a several week journey to the port, where they again await for customs clearance which is probably still backed up, then shipped to warehouses of the retailers then out to the stores.

I can tell you from experience it can take as much as a 5 month lead time to get things made and over here. I know clothing is different but retailers are buying/making fall of 2021 clothes now.

Oh I believe it, and your example is very instructive. It just seems like a real systemic failing if the big moment where everyone wants your products comes and you can't be ready for it within, say, four months. I recognize that businesses might find so many benefits from the just-in-time model that they are willing to miss out on a moment like this, but it definitely challenges some of the assumptions baked into those supply/demand curves we worked on back in micro-economics class in college.

[Nyarlathotep]

Frozen vegetables here.

Yep, frozen cut-leaf spinach being the hardest to find consistently in my area (metro Atlanta suburbs). Very odd, since frozen "chopped" spinach is readily available, so why not "cut leaf"??

Also, rubbing alcohol remains basically impossible to find at local stores unless you happen to be there right after the shelves are stocked / restocked.

[ResearchMed]

Frozen vegetables here.

Yep, frozen cut-leaf spinach being the hardest to find consistently in my area (metro Atlanta suburbs). Very odd, since frozen "chopped" spinach is readily available, so why not "cut leaf"??

Also, rubbing alcohol remains basically impossible to find at local stores unless you happen to be there right after the shelves are stocked / restocked.

Funny... back in the early days of the pandemic, I was searching high and low for frozen *chopped* spinach, and could only find frozen "cut", even though online it often showed "chopped" as available.

And alas, no matter how much I emphasized "NO substitution" (in a variety of ways, including interactive chat), we still ended up with quite a few packages of other types of frozen spinach.
And one bag of fresh whole leaf spinach

However, the classic *box* of frozen chopped spinach is now back.
I haven't looked to see if the "cut" variety is frequently still there. I stocked up with several boxes, for a particular recipe, so I haven't browsed "frozen spinach" recently at all.

RM

[wfrobinette]

I had a huge amount of trouble finding decent-quality hair clippers on Amazon and other online sources. I ultimately tracked them down a beauty store that does more business to industry professionals and in hair extensions. But it was enough trouble to find them that it sort of makes you doubt some fundamental tenets of micro-economics/capitalism. Sure, it could take a few months to ramp up production, but after five months you can't pump out more of the one thing you sell to keep Target and Amazon supplied with clippers? Talk about a wasted opportunity. I'm sure there's information here I'm missing, but jeez. (And I'm aware that there are different supply chains for things like retail and wholesale food/toilet paper, etc., but that wouldn't seem to apply to this particular consumer item.)

Its called a just in time supply chain. No manufacturer has weeks of raw materials on hand. If they are missing just 1 piece they are stopped from making even 1. it could be as simple as a screw. Once they start making them, they stage then get on a boat for a several week journey to the port, where they again await for customs clearance which is probably still backed up, then shipped to warehouses of the retailers then out to the stores.

I can tell you from experience it can take as much as a 5 month lead time to get things made and over here. I know clothing is different but retailers are buying/making fall of 2021 clothes now.

Oh I believe it, and your example is very instructive. It just seems like a real systemic failing if the big moment where everyone wants your products comes and you can't be ready for it within, say, four months. I recognize that businesses might find so many benefits from the just-in-time model that they are willing to miss out on a moment like this, but it definitely challenges some of the assumptions baked into those supply/demand curves we worked on back in micro-economics class in college.

Certainly does. Problem with Wahl, Remington and the likes now is that since they have sold so many clippers this year demand is likely to suffer for several years.

[jlawrence01]

Oh I believe it, and your example is very instructive. It just seems like a real systemic failing if the big moment where everyone wants your products comes and you can't be ready for it within, say, four months. I recognize that businesses might find so many benefits from the just-in-time model that they are willing to miss out on a moment like this, but it definitely challenges some of the assumptions baked into those supply/demand curves we worked on back in micro-economics class in college.

On one hand, the consumer wants consumer products as cheap as possible. Products that used to be made in the Midwest in the 70's were moved yo the Southern states in the 80s to avoid paying union wages. As that became popular, wage pressures again hit and the production was moved to the Mexican maquiladoras in the mid-90s. That was pretty stable as the Mexican government would occasionally devalue the Mexican peso making it affordable.

Then fifteen years ago, thins started to head to China because what was costing $3.50/hour in Mexico could be done in China for less than $1. Since then, some production has moved to Vietnam and other SE Asian countries.

In other words, product that was once produced in Ohio and shipped 500 miles is now being shipped 8,000 miles with any number of complications.

I do not know of ANY manufacturer who can ramp up their production overnight and produce 4x their normal capacity. Long supply chains make it very difficult to add unscheduled productions, especially if the source is a country that can slow down exports at will.

There are a lot of things that could have been done a lot better during the first months of the pandemic. Retailers should have put strict limits on products in short supply. Only ALDI was doing that from day one. Manufacturers could have repackaged commercial products like toilet paper and sold them at retail. The Kimberly Clark CEO played dumb like people couldn't use office pack toilet paper at home. Large distributors like Sysco and others could repackage their foof service pack into retail packs. They did some of that

[Longruninvestor]

The Target and Walmart stores near me have been stocked out of men’s Hanes socks for many months. It’s strange and a bit frustrating. I’ve also been having trouble finding unsweetened iced tea in 2 quart bottles, but on occasion can find a six pack of single serve bottles. Maybe it’s time to start going barefoot and brewing my own tea. Ha.

[MadHungarian]

Speaking of hair clippers, when i was at Costco the other day, a couple jokers in the next checkout line had two of the big flatbed carts stacked with a full pallet-load each of those good hair clippers that Costco sells. Must been nearly a thousand clippers they were buying. Presumably planning to re-sell on ebay or some such, for a hefty markup soon.

[DSInvestor]

Wahl was back at Costco this week!

Costco.com shows it as sold out but based on your post, I asked a costco rep in the store and they had them! Thanks.

[sailaway]

Wahl was back at Costco this week!

Costco.com shows it as sold out but based on your post, I asked a costco rep in the store and they had them! Thanks.

Yay!

DH still hasn't let me cut his hair. He doesn't want to sit still long enough unless he is working.

And I don't need to do anything with mine because I buzzed it down when my SIL started chemo. It was the strays left after three separate attempts at a buzz cut that got me looking for a replacement.

[TomatoTomahto]

Apparently Cilantro is tough to find, and memo to Instacart: butter lettuce is not a substitute although the colors are similar.

[ddurrett896]

Large container of taco seasoning.

[Kompass]

Large container of taco seasoning.

Running low but available now salt free taco seasoning 1lb https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

[GlennK]

Large container of taco seasoning.

https://www.mccormick.com/recipes/other ... lsrc=aw.ds

Prefer to salt to my taste (which is none)

[Clever_Username]

Still haven't found PowerAde Zero White Cherry ... or even the nonzero variety. Possibly since early March, and my supplies are running low.

Ralph's (local Kroger affiliate) website says they have it at one 20 minutes away and I am seriously considering driving over there to find out.

Edit Wait, I found Zero White Cherry ... at a Circle K. On tap. For 99cents + tax (but not CRV) got a 44 oz. I think that's cheaper than I usually paid for the 28 oz bottles.

[campy2010]

Large container of taco seasoning.

Penzys is my all time favorite place to get spices. They're probably slightly more expensive than the average bottle from Costco or wherever, but the quality is much, much higher.

https://www.penzeys.com/

[sailaway]

Large container of taco seasoning.

Penzys is my all time favorite place to get spices. They're probably slightly more expensive than the average bottle from Costco or wherever, but the quality is much, much higher.

https://www.penzeys.com/

How do you determine that?

[campy2010]

Large container of taco seasoning.

Penzys is my all time favorite place to get spices. They're probably slightly more expensive than the average bottle from Costco or wherever, but the quality is much, much higher.

https://www.penzeys.com/

How do you determine that?

Mostly taste. Much stronger/nicer flavor than standard store-bought bottled spices. That said, their spices aren't organic but they tend to not contain fillers/stabilizers/anti-caking agents (always check the label if you want filler-free/gluten-free spices).

[Mudpuppy]

Speaking of hair clippers, when i was at Costco the other day, a couple jokers in the next checkout line had two of the big flatbed carts stacked with a full pallet-load each of those good hair clippers that Costco sells. Must been nearly a thousand clippers they were buying. Presumably planning to re-sell on ebay or some such, for a hefty markup soon.

People doing things like this are why I refuse to pay surge pricing for something unless it's absolutely necessary. And it's also why I wish more retailers had item limits. I try to keep all my purchases at no more than 2 of each item unless it's something small like individual servings of yogurt.

[ddurrett896]

People doing things like this are why I refuse to pay surge pricing for something unless it's absolutely necessary. And it's also why I wish more retailers had item limits. I try to keep all my purchases at no more than 2 of each item unless it's something small like individual servings of yogurt.

The good news it that when people surge the price, the people who actually need them has access to them.

I live in an area that gets hit by hurricanes. The week before, somebody goes and buys all the generators to mark up. If he didn't do that, every other person would buy a generator and sit on it thru the storm, never posting it up for sale.

Those who actually need one (medical device that require power, mother with a ton of frozen break milk, etc.) don't have access since everyone purchased a single unit.

The guy that bought a bunch will gouge you, but at least you can actually get one. In a perfect world, only those people who really need them (medical devices, etc.) would purchase them but that's not that case and will never be.

PS I would never bulk buy stuff like that but it's a necessary evil.

[iamlucky13]

The local home improvement store was out of pressure treated 4x4's and bagged gravel last weekend, and low or out of stock on quite a few other building items that are normally no trouble to find.

For the first time I can ever remember, there also was no culled lumber set aside at a discount.

I'm guessing stay-at-home vacation projects, combined with shipping issues and some industries working at a slower pace due to measures to reduce workplace transmission will continue to drive similar shortages for a while.

I will be calling the lumber yard this week for my main order for my next project, but was hoping to grab a handful to get my project started on this past Sunday, when the lumber yard was closed.

[c1over8]

Large container of taco seasoning.

Penzys is my all time favorite place to get spices. They're probably slightly more expensive than the average bottle from Costco or wherever, but the quality is much, much higher.

https://www.penzeys.com/

How do you determine that?

Mostly taste. Much stronger/nicer flavor than standard store-bought bottled spices. That said, their spices aren't organic but they tend to not contain fillers/stabilizers/anti-caking agents (always check the label if you want filler-free/gluten-free spices).

I agree that Penzeys is generally higher quality. I base this assessment on using Penzeys and then switching to whatever they had at kroger and immediately regretting it. I specifically call to mind separate instances of using cumin, garlic, and cayenne pepper as a dominant ingredient and immediately noticing the dish didn't taste as good. The kroger cumin was so bad I threw it away after the first use. I have a Penzeys nearby and usually only buy their spices when they have a coupon or freebie deal which usually make my purchases not much more expensive than the grocery store and sometimes cheaper.

[6bquick]

People doing things like this are why I refuse to pay surge pricing for something unless it's absolutely necessary. And it's also why I wish more retailers had item limits. I try to keep all my purchases at no more than 2 of each item unless it's something small like individual servings of yogurt.

The good news it that when people surge the price, the people who actually need them has access to them.

I live in an area that gets hit by hurricanes. The week before, somebody goes and buys all the generators to mark up. If he didn't do that, every other person would buy a generator and sit on it thru the storm, never posting it up for sale.

Those who actually need one (medical device that require power, mother with a ton of frozen break milk, etc.) don't have access since everyone purchased a single unit.

The guy that bought a bunch will gouge you, but at least you can actually get one. In a perfect world, only those people who really need them (medical devices, etc.) would purchase them but that's not that case and will never be.

PS I would never bulk buy stuff like that but it's a necessary evil.

I feel that gougers are scumbag troglodytes by-and-large, but that is an unusually optimistic outlook on price gouging and an angle I'd honestly never considered. I appreciate the different perspective. Thanks.

[Mudpuppy]

The good news it that when people surge the price, the people who actually need them has access to them.

I live in an area that gets hit by hurricanes. The week before, somebody goes and buys all the generators to mark up. If he didn't do that, every other person would buy a generator and sit on it thru the storm, never posting it up for sale.

Those who actually need one (medical device that require power, mother with a ton of frozen break milk, etc.) don't have access since everyone purchased a single unit.

Perhaps I'm showing my Californian side too much, but in California, the scenario of price gouging you gave is illegal when a disaster has been declared: https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/pricegougi ... gdisasters

The problem is finding and fining everyone who engaged in prohibited price gouging. There was talk of investigations being started early on in the pandemic, but I never saw follow-up on those investigations.

[Clever_Username]

Still haven't found PowerAde Zero White Cherry ... or even the nonzero variety. Possibly since early March, and my supplies are running low.

Ralph's (local Kroger affiliate) website says they have it at one 20 minutes away and I am seriously considering driving over there to find out.

Edit Wait, I found Zero White Cherry ... at a Circle K. On tap. For 99cents + tax (but not CRV) got a 44 oz. I think that's cheaper than I usually paid for the 28 oz bottles.

Success. I went to the Ralph's 20 minutes away, passing like five other grocery stores in the meantime, and got five of the 28oz White Cherry Powerade. Not zero, but I'll water it down and it'll work similar enough.

And on the way home, I stopped at a Total Wine and found a Radler that might be like the Trader Joe's one that they don't seem to have this year (sadness!), hopefully it tastes like my memory, we'll find out tonight.

[telemark]

You can add pivot cups for Penny skateboards to the list. Out of stock everywhere, including the manufacturer's site. Guess I'll have to do like the guy on YouTube and cut the fingertips off rubber gloves.

[Kennedy]

CO2 refill cartridges for Sodastream (fizzy water maker). Bed Bath and Beyond sells out of them as soon as they come in, per the customer service agent. Walmart and Target no longer carry them in my area.

Bed Bath and Beyond also has many empty shelves... especially in the sheets department. Out-of-stock online as well.

[Elsebet]

I agree that Penzeys is generally higher quality. I base this assessment on using Penzeys and then switching to whatever they had at kroger and immediately regretting it. I specifically call to mind separate instances of using cumin, garlic, and cayenne pepper as a dominant ingredient and immediately noticing the dish didn't taste as good. The kroger cumin was so bad I threw it away after the first use. I have a Penzeys nearby and usually only buy their spices when they have a coupon or freebie deal which usually make my purchases not much more expensive than the grocery store and sometimes cheaper.

I love Penzey's too but for cumin I buy whole cumin seeds and grind a small amount at a time, I find that is superior to any ground bottled cumin.

[Leesbro63]

Has “the real” Lysol come back to being available? I still
cant find it in Pittsburgh. I’m referring to the big can aerosol Lysol. Not the messy “spritz” version.

[Mudpuppy]

Has “the real” Lysol come back to being available? I still
cant find it in Pittsburgh. I’m referring to the big can aerosol Lysol. Not the messy “spritz” version.

I wouldn't count on there being a steady supply of specific types of household disinfectants for a while. Demand is high and production lines might be focusing on different products than what you're wanting to purchase. Some production capacity might also be dedicated to medical facility disinfectants, which is certainly understandable in these times. So you might have to just live with the spritz version for a while, or even make your own spray out of diluted bleach.

[Leesbro63]

Has “the real” Lysol come back to being available? I still
cant find it in Pittsburgh. I’m referring to the big can aerosol Lysol. Not the messy “spritz” version.

I wouldn't count on there being a steady supply of specific types of household disinfectants for a while. Demand is high and production lines might be focusing on different products than what you're wanting to purchase. Some production capacity might also be dedicated to medical facility disinfectants, which is certainly understandable in these times. So you might have to just live with the spritz version for a while, or even make your own spray out of diluted bleach.

Aw man. But yeah.

[jebmke]

CO2 refill cartridges for Sodastream (fizzy water maker). Bed Bath and Beyond sells out of them as soon as they come in, per the customer service agent. Walmart and Target no longer carry them in my area.

Bed Bath and Beyond also has many empty shelves... especially in the sheets department. Out-of-stock online as well.

had same problem. Ordered them direct from Sodastream.

[batpot]

Large container of taco seasoning.

have had no problem finding chili powder at Costco.
Take 2 minutes to whip up a batch for a pound of ground meat with other spices from the cabinet:
1 tablespoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon paprika
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons of Montreal steak seasoning
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or something else to spice it up)

[Kuna_Papa_Wengi]

Chest freezers.

[ResearchMed]

Chest freezers.

Any freezers, for a while at least.

Appliance stores nearby were taking names/contact info for waiting lists.

RM

[retired recently]

We also could not find the sodastream replacements so I looked online to see options. Apparently you take off the top of the cartridge without too much effort and purchase pelletized dry ice to insert into the container. You have to keep weighing the canister to ensure you do not overfill but it is not a difficult process. I used chopsticks as the pellets I found were somewhat large, online it seemed they had very fine pellets but I could not locate those near me.

The dry ice we found was food grade apparently. We have been using for a few months now and like it very much. I think it cost about one and one-half dollars per cartridge to do it this way....a small fraction of what we were paying...