Bagged carrots have suddenly scarce again. The only 5-lb. bags available at my local Jewel were organic, and there were few of them. At Mariano’s there were no bagged whole carrots. I looked on their website for shopping for 5-lb. bags, and Kroger brand bags were available only for delivery. I have no idea why they can’t stock them in stores at the same time.
I searched the web for possible reasons, and I found that in 2022 the problem was a shortage of trucks for transport.
I was pleasantly surprised to see our local farm market had their own carrot monstrosities again this year. They purposely grow some huge carrots, as big around as your forearm. I brought two home with me.
Cabbage is suddenly hard to find, as are Brussels sprouts on stalks. Fruit is fairly plentiful, but the quality is poor. Also, the cookie/cracker aisle at Wegman’s has way too many empty spaces. They have also been out of cotton rounds (not balls - the little pad things for makeup) for a long time.
I’ve never bought them (the giant empty shelf is just attention-grabbing), but that could be a little pricey. Considering how much everything has gone up though, that’s probably a reasonable price.
Update: today, still no bagged whole carrots at Mariano’s. However, there was a small notice posted that said it was due to “adverse weather conditions”, so not related to COVID. Jewel had a few 2-lb bags of organic “rainbow” carrots which didn’t seem to be in good condition. There was 1 2-lb bag of regular organic carrots, and I bought it.
Chronic for some time now: not a total shortage of bread flours, but a lot of gaps on the shelves, and some versions of some brands (I particularly noticed King Arthur) often missing altogether. Seems to be worse in the whole wheat.
I recently found Huy Fong sriracha at the local Walmart neighborhood store. Strangely, it was on the top shelf- unlabeled, unpriced, turned backwards so the brand label couldn’t be seen. I pulled a bottle down and asked a stocker to scan it. It was $2.40 for a 9 ounce bottle. That’s about double the price per ounce it used to be.
Also, Valentina extra hot sauce (black label) is still nowhere to be found, at least in the supermarkets. Maybe I should check some local tiendas Mexicanas.
The difference is in the dosing, and sometimes the format. Tylenol for very young children might be a liquid suspension. Tylenol tablets for small children have less of the drug per dose than the ones used by adults.
I expect anything made from flour will be subject to both shortages and price increases going forward thanks to that little war in Eastern Europe taking some of the most productive grain growing areas of the planet out of usage. Less grain to go around means higher prices and shortages. Same number of people chasing less product.
I usually bake my own bread, so I’ve been keeping an extra 10 pounds in the freezer (for long term storage) in case I have trouble finding flour.
But enough about groceries. My 20 year old car needed a new suspension and, after some thought, research, and determining that the rest of the vehicle was sound I decided to go for it. Look at when I started that linked thread and the date of this post. Granted, I didn’t make a final decision on that until the last week of December, but basically I’m in week three of waiting on parts to arrive. Most of the parts are in, but there’s a couple that are not. Supply chain shortages etc. etc.
I’m coming up on 26 years with mine; I’m used to waiting for parts, but current shortages are making me drag my feet a bit on the next round of repairs (bad muffler, along with probable worn shocks).
I’m in the Southeast also, and half and half and cream have been a problem for several months now. Initially I thought it might have something to do with the holidays, but nope. I went to my regular grocery store a couple days ago and there was no half and half or cream to be had at all - some creamers were out of stock as well.
BUT - I went to our local co-op, which only stocks organic, non-GMO, etc. items and no problem getting half and half and cream there. Though of course it costs more.
Then the “check engine” light came on in the truck… of course. It’s always something. But it’s a Ford and Rangers are common as dirt so I anticipate fewer problems with that one (and still hoping it’s a minor and easy fix).