Toilet paper and paper towels and cleaning wipes are in short supply again

[demtenjeep]

my MIL manages a grocery store and is having a hard time getting things in.

She says by Christmas things will be as bad as they were in March

also says weird things are hard to get =frozen brussel sprouts, canned tomatoes weird things that make no sense

but also things like tuna, canned chicken, powdered milk some peanut butter brands

[shanti]

1. Disinfectant wipes?

I haven't found any for a year, and I'm on my last pack. Every time I go to Costco, they're still out.

[demtenjeep]

4. yes. She hasn't been able to get them all summer

This is in a small town -the only grocery store in the county seat

[kimbutgar]

7. When the pandemic first hit in March I went to Costco and brought a big box of wipes

I thought I was being ridiculous but everyone was buying them that day. I’m glad I did I still have a few of unopened packages.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Something Wrong There

The big suppliers of those products have caught up to normal demand & 95% of line fill for peak demand.
According to those I know in those companies, that happened in mid to late September.
I don't have any direct contacts in paper products. (The only support work I did in paper was lignosulfonate replacement in Kraft paper operations.). So, I have no particular insight for those consumer goods.

[shanti]

12. It's the Kirkland brand (Costco proprietary)

I look for, but there aren't any other brands either.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. I Know The Folks At Private Label...

...formulators, too. But haven't talked to them for a while.

I did a considerable amount of work in the chemistry of antimicrobials. Both making them, and the chemical mechanisms for why they work.

I know about a hundred people at 15-20 companies in that product line. Many of those are the institutional & industrial product lines. (Think the formulators for products hospitals, stores, schools, etc. buy.)
But, almost half are on the consumer product side.

I haven't contacted everybody, but all those I have tell me they caught up the supply chain.

The companies that make the active, EPA & FDA registered, ingredients caught up in mid summer. And the two I know best were never above 80% asset utilization. They had 25% excess capacity without any optimization efforts. That's why they caught up more quickly.

I wonder if Costco was nearing the end of their purchase contracts and it delayed back fill.

If not, misjudging forecasted demand could have had their formulator not reserving enough asset & line time.

It's not like that company couldn't take contracts to help catch up the industry supply chain if they had idle assets.
Then, Costco comes back and say to overfill inventory they need x million units, but the asset availability only exists for 200,000. Puts Costco in a tough spot.

This is only speculation, but these are things that could happen in that industry.

[shanti]

21. Well

I went on Amazon and found a 3 pack of Clorox wipes (75 ea) for about $12. The only snag is that it will take 6 weeks to get my order At least I got an order in before they're sold out again.

[Klaralven]

37. Reasonably well stocked last week here

Some of the name brands are coming back to the shelves, but a lot of the product is store brand or brands that I've never heard of. I think many of these may be products that institutional suppliers are packaging for supermarkets.

[Meowmee]

32. There have been no usual brand name or generic wipes at all in any stores near me

Except more recently unheard of new brands selling alcohol wipes in limited supply and target has some bleach, alcohol and viral disinfectant wipes as well in limited supply- unknown new brands also with 1 purchase allowed. I would have thought the generic and lysol / clorox brands would have caught up by now. I ended up making my own with dry wipes in a tub and adding my own disinfectant when none at all were available. Bjs had a new hydrogen peroxide disinfectant recently. I assume maybe they are being reserved for hospitals, clinics and other similar establishments.

[MFM008]

16. we gave up

just use bleach and paper towels.
Albertsons was still stocked up on Paper towels.....

[Wednesdays]

24. Vinegar is also a great disinfectant

Less toxic than bleach, too.

[marybourg]

29. I don't believe vinegar has any effect on viruses.

[ProfessorGAC]

44. No It's Not

You should self delete.
Vinegar is not an efficacious biocide.
For foodborne bacteria, it's an effective biostatic (see pickles!) but it's not a particularly good surface disinfectant.
And it has near zero effect on most viruses. The concentration of acetic acid is far too low to create any interaction with the viral lipids or protein.
Your post is very bad advice. Essentially misinformation.

[helpisontheway]

17. I have been able to get off brand disinfectant wipes

I ordered some Lysol wipes on Amazon last month but they will not arrive until right after Christmas.

[marlakay]

36. The only place I have found them is Target right after they open

On Monday or Tuesday. Don't buy their off brand one though awful. Wait till they get clorox in.

[cwydro]

2. No problems whatsoever where I am.

I keep seeing people posting this.

There are stories in the news that the supply chain is on top of this.

[Takket]

3. the aisles at my store are only about 25% stocked with paper goods

but they are stocked, and as of yet i've had no issue getting what i need.

[RandySF]

5. We just picked up TP at Costco.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. It May Be Regional

There are essentially zero shortages here.
Pharmacy, both grocery stores, both dollar stores...
Shelves of those products are fully stocked.
At a Walmart 18 miles west, there was plenty of all those, but they preemptively placed a one per customer limit.
But, of the 10-12 people I saw in line nearby, me & one other person even had TP in the cart.
Of course I was there early, so it wasn't very crowded.
But, there's very little mention of product shortages in the Chicago news.

[Dorian Gray]

33. Here too

NYC our shelves are pretty full. I got two cans of Lysol, wipes, TP and Paper Towels on Wednesday.

[TexasTowelie]

8. The entire aisle at my local grocery store was fully stocked

of brand-name and alternative labels for paper towels, toilet paper, and disinfectant wipes. They are limiting purchases to a reasonable amount so there shouldn't be any issues getting those products.

[KentuckyWoman]

9. Apparently canned carrots are hard to get around here.

3 different stores ... out of canned carrots.

Article in our local paper said fast food joint are having to take salads off the menu and lettuce off the sandwiches. If they can get lettuce it is too expensive and poor quality.

Between wildfires and weather, we are going to see some interruptions.

[MissB]

22. I've never used canned carrots

What do people use them for?

[phylny]

25. Eat them as a side for dinner.

[MissB]

26. I guess I just use fresh

Probably because that’s what my mom used.

I’ve always looked at canned potatoes the same way.

[BumRushDaShow]

27. OMG first thing I thought too!

Didn't know they had that although I can't see why not. I've had frozen but usually as part of some veggie mix.

[salin]

30. quick soups from scratch.

create a cream base (a roux + milk) a little seasoning, and cans of whatever veggies one has on hand can make a very fast, tasty meal.

[KentuckyWoman]

46. I used to can my own for winter.

I don't drive much in winter anymore. No longer have my yard. Canned veggies fill in over the winter when I limit driving. We do what we must ....

[smirkymonkey]

39. I have noticed lately that the lettuce I have been ordering has been of very

poor quality. It is already brown around the edges by the time it is delivered.

[IBEWVET]

11. All the food items

You mentioned are in demand for food pantries. I just purchased a large amount of those items and donated them. It just hurts me to see so much hunger in our rich country.

[occupant]

13. going, going, gone

Our Costco, here in SE Mich is low on paper products too. Haven't seen their brand of paper towels in eons. Kleenex is priced hideously, and they only had overpriced Charmin TP. However *score* they had a pallet of 4 pks of Lysol Spray disinfectant, only $16 ! I haven't seen any Lysol Spray since March.They dropped the pallet in the end cap spot and it went in a matter of minutes. I got one 4 pk but yanno I really wanted 3. I think someone would have beat me with a sample tray if I grabbed more than one...BTW MENARDS has a nice cannister of disinfectant Wipes for $2.99 today. Going fast. They are displayed in the grocery area in the store.

[Demovictory9]

14. Yep. Resurgence of covid has people hoarding again

[Flaleftist]

15. Those are running light here too.

It's nowhere near as bad as list time. There will probably be different levels of panic buying state by state. There are still out of stock issues on seemingly random items, but I think some of that can be attributed to the plants that produce these items dealing with limited production capacity due to covid precautions and quarantined employees.

[BannonsLiver]

19. Do you live in a remote mountainous area?

[No Vested Interest]

20. Canned beverages - Cokes, etc.

My daughter was told that that the bottlers of such (I call them soft drinks - some call them sodas) are having a hard time getting the aluminum required for the cans. Supply is coming back, but some brands are limited or out.

[sweetloukillbot]

38. There's a few things going on with soda

Aluminum can shortages, but also sweetener shortages, I believe. I haven't seen diet Sierra Mist in ages (or regular Sierra Mist for that matter), Cherry Coke is hard to find in cans and 20-oz bottles, diet Sprite...

Another odd shortage I've found is Better Cheddars. I love those crackers and am only able to find them about once a month.

Right now I've noticed brand-name paper goods are scarce, but house brand stuff is easy to find. I'm also seeing a lot of weird off-brand disinfectant wipes - I've been stocking up over the past couple months so I'm good for a while, but I haven't seen Clorox, Lysol or house brand ones since April or so.

[dawg day]

23. It was weird shopping last week-- what was missing-

I couldn't get Karo syrup for the pie, or chicken broth, and not even 2% milk. And this is a huge store that usually has 5 brands of everything.

I thought it might just be everyone shopping for thanksgiving, but it was just as bad today. Today there was only expensive "recycled" toilet paper.

[Ahpook]

28. Our stores put a cap on how many of the same item can be purchased

per person. Of course that doesn't stop them from returning later for more.

I didn't understand it in March and I don't now. Why TP but not the dietary staples like rice, beans, etc? Those items never ran out, but TP didn't show back up in the grocery I use for a couple months.

Mighty odd

[sweetloukillbot]

40. Rice, beans, flour and canned goods were hard to find for awhile

The paper goods were the first wave, then water, then dry and canned goods.

[Demsrule86]

31. I went to a small Giant Eagle near my house and it was packed with all of the above...I had

not seen it so got concerned and ordered from Amazon.

[Meowmee]

34. Toilet paper etc. is

Still somewhat limited here but not non existent at all. Purchase is limited. I bought a lot in March online, one which lasts forever and the rest I bought later when I could. There are no name brand wipes still here. Some new brands have popped up with alcohol, or viral disinfectants, one with bleach, all in limited supply with limited purchase. The hand sanitizer is back, mostly different brands but not unavailable. Food- some shelves etc. are nearly bare sometimes again now when I have shopped a few times here and there... mostly in the regular supermarkets.

[samnsara]

35. no paper products in costco but i went in there to get other stuff...

..at least there was no line today.

[crickets]

41. I bought one canister of wipes in March and haven't been able to find them since.

I gave up looking for them and made my own. Bought a couple of packs of the off brand Handi-wipes (as the name brand was sold out) and cut each one into four smaller paper towel sized squares. I managed to find a decent disinfectant spray. Put about 1/4 cup into a wide mouth canning jar, fold wipes in half, stack about ten of them, and roll them up to fit in the jar. Kind of a pain, but it works for me. It's especially nice to be able to launder and reuse the wipes. I've only lost two or three to wear and tear, so haven't needed to replace them.

Having seen the next paper product crisis coming, I managed to stock up just as the shelves were starting to empty at my local grocery. Fingers crossed I can score a few boxes of Kleenex this week and then bow out of the fray for a while.

[Baclava]

42. Not seeing it, stores here are well stocked, even have bottles of rubbing alcohol to make sanitizer

Of course I've been stocking up all paper supplies every time I go grocery shopping whether I need them or not, I can build a fort of TP, lol, I call it slow hoarding.

A little extra here and there, dont wait for a "panic".

[aikoaiko]

43. i learned my lesson. I have 6 month of tp, pt, and disinfectant on hand.

I'll use them eventually even if I don't have to break into the backup supplies.

[leftyladyfrommo]

45. I ordered a big package of Scott a while back and

Amazon just refunded my money.