From what I gathered in the news, I don’t think the meat shortage is here now, but they are anticipating one because of the closure of several processing plants. I’m sure the Sam’s/Costco’s/BJs and other stores remember being burned by the toilet paper run, so they are limiting now to avoid people going ape$h*t when the supply chain does slow down in a few months. I personally think that’s a wise choice, because the hoarders or profiteers do in fact ruin it for everyone!
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I think there’s some hype along those lines, but when stuff happens like the CEO of Tyson warning about possible shortages like he did last week then the business press at least is pretty much duty bound to report that sort of thing. That said, it has kind of gotten blown up from there.
FWIW, I’ve also seen Bloomberg report that both JBS (the world’s largest meat producer) and Minerva SA are ready to ship plenty of meat as exports to the US, so any long term shortages seem pretty unlikely.
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I’ve become (even more of) a cynic during this crisis. When I saw that from the CEO of Tyson my first thought was that he was exerting public pressure to arm twist for some kind of government funding assistance. Whatever the motivation, yes the media does need to report on it. I’m sure the truth ultimately lies somewhere in the middle.
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it’s totally possible. it also wasn’t long after this that there was an executive order that allowed them to keep their plants open and avoid liability, so maybe it was a gambit he worked to Tyson’s advantage. they sure don’t want JBS picking up the slack.
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since we’re talking meat shortages, this is kind of interesting (hat tip to the Friends of Boston Restaurant’s page). BT’s Smokehouse in Sturbridge has posted on Facebook that they seem OK on brisket for a week or two, but that “things are getting scary out there” and that for brisket it’s looking like prices for a pound for his next trucks are set to double. He also expresses concerns about the stability of the pork market and mentions that the menu might change depending on what’s available and at what cost.
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I was in Market Basket North Andover today and the entire pork/sausage/lamb section was full
of gallon jugs of water. Beef, chicken and turkey fully stocked.
Plenty of TP, eggs and fresh fruit/veggies.
Soda isle was not as robust as usual. No red MT. Dew for the my youngest.
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It’s interesting you added that because I heard the same thing yesterday on the news programs. That for restaurants, they’re noticing that parts of their meat orders are missing or unavailable. I guess the prices have also been creeping up because of less availability, and soon they anticipate flat out scarcity for many meat products everywhere. The news story was warning consumers to expect higher prices on meat over the next few months.
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There is a meat shortage but so far it affects supermarkets that much whereas fast food chains like Wendy’s had to stop offering beef-based burgers in a significantly number of locations. (And I think it is just a matter if time until we will also experience it in supermarkets especially with the number of infected most likely dramatically raising in the next few weeks and months (and also later also affecting produce as people helping farmers harvesting are lacking (something seen already in Europe)
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Trip report from my once every two week foray to Market Basket in Littleton. Conditions were different this week compared to previous visits.
For the first time, I experienced unavailability of numerous fresh produce items. Late delivery maybe? Most everything looked depleted and I returned without most of my fresh veg list. No broccoli or rabe, no berries, no avocados, no cucumbers, no cilantro, limited selection of lettuces (and only available in plastic), and only a few packages of mushrooms in the Asian mushroom section (none at all in the bigger mushroom section). Unpackaged greens were spotty and tired looking, so I passed on those. I hope this is an anomaly.
The meat shortage was evident. All of the fresh meat cases had been consolidated within the chicken section only. Whatever types of fresh meat they had were pulled into that one, small section.
I’d hoped to find a bag of whole wheat flour but no dice.
On the bright side, I was able to restock with a big multipack of toilet paper for the first time since The Before.
While I don’t wish to complain given the wonderful and tireless job that Market Basket is doing, I am bummed that I will have to scout elsewhere for fresh produce. Exceedingly minor in the larger picture, yes?
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Pig farmers in the heartland are having to, themselves, kill thousands of animals that can’t be sold because the processing plants are closed. Many farmers are traumatized, both because of their imperiled livelihoods and because though they raise animals for meat, they are not used to doing the killing, and don’t have bolt guns to down the animals swiftly and bloodlessly.
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I dragged my youngest out of bed this morning for a trek to Burlington H-Mart. I did promise a stop at Gene’s Flatbread or Sichuan Garden…Gene’s won…as a bribe.
Arrived around 11:00, no line to get in. They have gloves, spray disinfectant and paper towels to clean your cart. The bakery was open, very busy and maybe 1 or 2 of the small restaurants.
Lots of fresh fruit and veggies available. We picked up bananas, oranges, bok choy and moved onto the prepared food. Grabbed a tub of bbq marinated chicken thighs and beef ribeye for grilling. There were some good looking vegetable buns but I would be the only one to eat those. And I would do that in one sitting.
They had a fair amount of fresh beef but only some frozen chicken. Did not see pork although there was some in the prepared food section. Lots of fresh seafood. Plenty of eggs and dairy. Sweets were well stocked. Picked up some Pocky and cookies.
The aisles are designated one way but not everyone was paying attention and the front of the store is so overstocked checkout is a little tight. But we were out in 30 minutes or so.
Probably not an every week visit although we do like the bbq now that the charcoal grill back in rotation.
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H Mart is my usual weekly stop these days, tho I tend to go at the open. Produce is always well stocked, it seems like. When I went Wednesday. I thought the dry goods shelves were kind of sparse here and there but overall there was nothing lacking that I needed. This place has really proved useful to me over the last two months, with only minor hassles. Happy to shop here.
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Its probably more a matter of familiarity. My local Market Basket has what I need and I know the layout by heart. Makes sense I would be most comfortable shopping there. Sounds like H-Mart is the same for you. I do like the seafood offerings at H-Mart, a larger selection than MB. But probably not enough of a draw to travel to Burlington on a weekly basis.
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Don’t keep us in suspense! How is Gene doing?
I miss him and I haven’t been there in a long time, because since I shouldn’t eat the carbs anymore, I would only be going there to say hi to Gene, but you never know where he’s going to be on any particular day. I hope he’s doing okay.
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It was great, our first time and we’re already talking about the next trip. Sent my son in for pick up so not sure who was in the store.
I added it to the Gene’s Flatbread string. Heres the link
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PSA. The Charles Square farmers market in Harvard Square is open today but based on what I saw this a.m., I’m going to avoid it. I was out for an early walk and passed through that area and there was one white box truck that just arrived to set up. There were 2 people outside of the truck without masks (fine there was no one around). As I passed out one more got out and a woman inside said “wait until they go by”. I saw 3 Cambridge PD on bikes who they were avoiding for some reason which I still can’t figure out. I was glad to be at least 20 feet away when someone else in the truck launched into a dry cough fit and the woman in the truck said “haha, you might want to get that looked at”.
I’m sure I am as over reactive to all of this as anyone, and generally I think risk outdoors is very low. However, this was like an after school special kind of thing that makes you shake your head and think you twice. I hate to penalize all of the farmers and vendors trying to stay afloat, but I couldn’t identify where these lovely folks were from. I honestly didn’t even put together that they were there for the farmers market until I had cleared the area. At first I thought might have been a work crew assembling the seasonal tent outside of the Charles Hotel.
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Two more weeks means another foray to Market Basket for me (Littleton, Mass.). In-stock conditions were far better since my last disappointing trip.
I don’t want to jinx this, but supplies may have reached a new equilibrium.
Highlights:
If you need all-purpose flour, this may be your lucky week. The shelves looked fully stocked with Gold Medal and King Arthur AP flours. No whole wheat yet though, which is what I need. No yeast yet, either.
You might also be in luck if you want a container of sanitizing wipes. Limit one per customer. I snagged a can of sanitizing wipes for my neighbor, who feels more at ease having them. First time I have seen wipes since things went sideways.
Those meat cases that were empty on my last visit were open and restocked. I didn’t get close enough to assess further.
New hours coming:
Beginning May 31 all MBs will be open from 7 AM-8 PM with senior hours from 6 AM-7 AM.
And a note of trepidation:
For the first time since I moved to weekday shopping, most of my fellow shoppers in the store appeared to be seniors on the elderly side. I have to admit that I was concerned for them being inside the highly trafficked, enclosed space that a grocery store necessarily is.
I worry that they may be hearing confusing messages about “reopening” and assume the risk has dropped?
All masked, though most did not consistently keep the recommended distance from me and others. I felt concern for them but all I could do was move away each time someone entered my space.
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Anecdotally, I’ve noticed the last two weeks that on my Wednesday 8 AM run to HMart there was no one in line outside the Burlington Market Basket at that time. the previous 7 or 8 weeks there were always 20-30 people waiting. I wonder if the pressure has eased some at this point.
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Also I noticed flats of brown eggs labeled “Market Basket“ on a slip of printer paper that was simply slid inside the clear plastic carton.
Makes me muse that the supply chain is starting to catch up on packing product that would have gone to restaurants, hotels, and food service in the past.
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