Food shortages?

[habuspasha]

My GF says her local Tesco in Nakhon Pathom was out of noodles.  And rice was low.  Is this an isolated occurrence?  We saw pictures of empty shelves a few weeks ago.  And I understand some medicines like Tylenol are unattainable.  What is your experience?

[RichardColeman]

There's a shortage of beer in my nearest Lidl if that helps ???? 

[dj230]

plenty of apples, bananas and kfc which is all i eat 

[Jingthing]

Well something is going on. Tops online has been out of a number of my regular staples for weeks already including Earth brand dried rice noodles.

[bkk6060]

Having one item missing or low in one market is a food shortage?  Villa was out of the Kettle chips I like, I guess that is a food shortage?  There is plenty of food out there in the markets to have a fulfilled nutritional life.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Having one item missing or low in one market is a food shortage?

Items have been disappearing from shelves for the past couple of weeks.

I think the COVID restrictions have caused delivery and distribution problems.

As the problems often seem the same items missing in 7-11/BigC/Tesco at the same time, I'm thinking they all use the same distributors.

 

Talking about Kettle chips, cheese and onion Lay have been gone for weeks, ain't no way I'm eating Jalapeno Nori seaweed flavour.

Edited August 13, 2021 by BritManToo

[tonray]

My GF is a manager for Tops market, she said it's not really supply shortages, although there are some bottlenecks, but rather hoarding, people are loading up carts with 2 or 3 weeks food, especially staples like noodles, etc and meats that they can freeze for later use. They are working 7 days a week stocking shelves just to keep up.

[4MyEgo]

25 minutes ago, tonray said:

My GF is a manager for Tops market, she said it's not really supply shortages, although there are some bottlenecks, but rather hoarding, people are loading up carts with 2 or 3 weeks food, especially staples like noodles, etc and meats that they can freeze for later use. They are working 7 days a week stocking shelves just to keep up.

I wouldn't call it hoarding, me and the wife have been stocking up since the first lockdown early last year, i.e. we purchased items to last us 3 months at a time, with 6 of us, you can imagine food runs out fairly quickly, that said, we now go once a month and stock up for a month which keeps us 2 months ahead with stock, that said, nearest Makro is an hours drive so those weekly drives that used to be are now a monthly event,

 

In my opinion, anyone who doesn't stock up will eventually miss out. I have notice many imports that I buy at Makro out of stock, that said, I would say it's not hoarding, but imports being held up or stuck in ports with very few trucks if any being allowed out of Bangkok to travel to provinces, just my opinion.

[habuspasha]

"Having one item missing or low in one market is a food shortage?" 

 

NO and No.  

Not in one market, which is why I asked you what was happening elsewhere.

And not one item.  And certainly not beer and kettle chips.  

As we often say: This is Thailand!

When my GF last discussed food, she mentioned that she had stockpiled noodles, rice, eggs, and pork. She said nothing about beer and kettle chips.

At her Tesco Wednesday there were no noodles, rice or chicken eggs (they had duck eggs, which she doesn't like).  

[dj230]

4 hours ago, tonray said:

My GF is a manager for Tops market, she said it's not really supply shortages, although there are some bottlenecks, but rather hoarding, people are loading up carts with 2 or 3 weeks food, especially staples like noodles, etc and meats that they can freeze for later use. They are working 7 days a week stocking shelves just to keep up.

That explains why there’s plenty of bananas, apples and kfc

No one hoards those 

[BobinBKK]

Approximately 10 7-Eleven's within a short walking distance of my condo in Bangkok have been out of many actual food items for the past three weeks. However they have plenty of snack items.

[internationalism]

each crisis creates opportunity for imaginative thinking - instead of noodles and rice there are hundreds of substitutes.

Look for healthy once, not for the cheapest and poor nutritious.

Time for thai gf and wifes to get out from their traditional boxes and learn about quality foods and good diets. If they don't do, you do shopping online, including lazada/shoepee, and force them to use ingredients you bought

Edited August 13, 2021 by internationalism

[BritManToo]

14 minutes ago, internationalism said:

If they don't do, you do shopping online, including lazada/shoepee, and force them to use ingredients you bought

You ever tried forcing a woman? .......... it normally doesn't end well.

[internationalism]

yes, an alternative to eating healthy food is losing by her those few extra kg she got on noodles, rise, sugar and fatty foods she had all her life.

Since the first lockdown I have started do to shopping, because wife is too scared and too lazy to move her bum. So now she eats, what I ordered

[BobinBKK]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

You ever tried forcing a woman? .......... it normally doesn't end well.

In my experience they're easily replaceable here, besides I like variety in everything I eat...

[Mickeymaus]

What I see is that the typical imported farang food gets less and less. At least at the Tops market where I shop. Somehow understandable because there are not so many farangs here as usual. But on the hand that doesn't really help me... 

[WISteve]

6 hours ago, tonray said:

My GF is a manager for Tops market, she said it's not really supply shortages, although there are some bottlenecks, but rather hoarding, people are loading up carts with 2 or 3 weeks food, especially staples like noodles, etc and meats that they can freeze for later use. They are working 7 days a week stocking shelves just to keep up.

I believe you are on the mark sir.

 

I recall back in 2010 when they said there was going to be a shortage of eggs and I saw old ladies with shopping carts full of eggs at Carrefour (now Big C).  They panic, they buy everything they can lay their hands on. When the wholesale price is up to a position which is deemed acceptable by producers they will smile all the way to the bank & the scare will blow over.

[tonray]

51 minutes ago, internationalism said:

Time for thai gf and wifes to get out from their traditional boxes and learn about quality foods and good diets

You have a promising career in comedy. Your point is well taken but I'm not a expecting miracles. I do my own shopping and cooking, because her job is so demanding she is pretty much a Grab food or grab something on the street before heading home kind of cook.

[lowp]

In my experience, a few months ago many expat foods were being discounted because of fewer buyers. Then I suspected they reduced their orders leading to shortages. Many Villa Market places seemed to have several empty shelves covered by a front line of cans or jars hiding the emptiness and reduced stock/variety. The thing that is most annoying is that with less buyers some items have slow turnover and are stale. I have to rebake all of my tortilla chips to make passably decent nachos. Then nuts going rancid. Even at Foodland where they used to be 24 hours with full AC, is suffering from this with reduced hours. Now you have some stuff that has been sitting in a hot warehouse for a few months longer before it even gets to stores. Usually robust pickled jalapenos from a brand I trust was pretty bad due to high temp long storage.

[Saltire]

I live in a rural village and I see no food shortages, indeed if you were a veggie or only ate pork, you'd still be well fed. All the staples the wife uses are plentiful at the moment.

 

Gave up on our monthly 3 hours each way drive to Makro, KFC, BigC etc a long time ago, now relying on 3 excellent mail order food suppliers, with no delivery probems so far.

 

If I could get to KFC I would definitely take away 6 family buckets and 12 diet pepsi. They freeze quite well.

 

Shame I cant do the same at Dairy Queen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Russell17au]

Yesterday I went to my local Makro and there were several items that were not available plus several items in short stock. Normally they have about 10 pallets of eggs but they only had 4 pallets yesterday and I mentioned this to my wife when I got home and she told me that many of the egg and chicken suppliers have closed due to Covid. So I went to have a look at the local Big C this morning and they would normally have 4 pallets and several shelves of eggs but they only had 1/2 a pallet of eggs and the shelves where they have the eggs were empty plus they had a limit of 1 x 30 tray of eggs per customer at a higher price. I used to pay 89baht for a tray and today the same tray was 109baht and there was very little in the way of chicken there. Walking through the store there were several items missing from the shelves but the fruit and veg was full. A lot of the imported stuff was missing from both Makro and Big C. It looks like it is a case of short supply from the manufacturers, short supply from the transport side and short supply from the closed factories.

[vandeventer]

8 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Having one item missing or low in one market is a food shortage?  Villa was out of the Kettle chips I like, I guess that is a food shortage?  There is plenty of food out there in the markets to have a fulfilled nutritional life.

Up north everything is good. I still haven't worked out why Makro are giving everyone these shower gloves. But the food is good plenty of meat, cheese and bread what more would you want?

[remobb]

Just got back from Makro and I can tell you there is not a lot of choice at the moment. Many items I normally get are not available. I mean "many" so yes, there must be a shortage. Guess they are short on delivery drivers. They didn't even have any of the usual bread, I had to be satisfied with bread rolls. Oh well, I won't starve.

[Nojohndoe]

3 hours ago, internationalism said:

each crisis creates opportunity for imaginative thinking - instead of noodles and rice there are hundreds of substitutes.

Look for healthy once, not for the cheapest and poor nutritious.

Time for thai gf and wifes to get out from their traditional boxes and learn about quality foods and good diets. If they don't do, you do shopping online, including lazada/shoepee, and force them to use ingredients you bought

"Broken News; Demanding Foreign Husband  learns how to wear food items"

[Nojohndoe]

3 minutes ago, remobb said:

Just got back from Makro and I can tell you there is not a lot of choice at the moment. Many items I normally get are not available. I mean "many" so yes, there must be a shortage. Guess they are short on delivery drivers. They didn't even have any of the usual bread, I had to be satisfied with bread rolls. Oh well, I won't starve.

Am venturing off to Makro tomorow. Will be interested to see. Don't usually buy much in the way of imported items.

[MrJ2U]

Sometimes short off eggs, milk, bread.

 

Next day overflowing with produce.

 

Its hit and miss.

 

I try and get there early and horde everything.

Edited August 13, 2021 by MrJ2U

[Tanomazu]

There are marked supply issues in the UK supermarkets.

 

You can be certain that Thailand will have them.

[alien365]

By local tesco do you mean tesco express or the superstore in her area? I live in Nakhon Pathom and went to tesco superstore Wednesday and today. Both days the shelves were full of noodles with lots of bigger boxes stored above the rice. The fish can area (panic bought last year) area was also full. I've noticed no panic buying at all this year.

 

What did catch my eye in tesco though is that they now sell a new style (carton) of milk, and loads of lactose free milk. No idea who's gonna buy all that here. 

[Caldera]

In my neighborhood in Bangkok, where many 7/11s were poorly stocked last week, things have pretty much returned to normal in the last few days. I haven't noticed any issues at all at the bigger supermarkets in this area.

[orchidfan]

My local favorite 711 was out of Tappers beer for a week or two. 

Manager said it was supply chain,or something. So it was Cheers Extra.

Then, low and behold today,  the chiller fridge is full of Tappers. 

There is a God ????.

Otherwise no local shortages around here (Rangsit ). 

Locals seem happy with streetside fish balls, bbq chicken and sausages on sticks! 10B a stick.

Cheaper than KFC or McCrap