Why is that?

America’s Grocery Supply Chain Is Healthy

With COVID-19 cornoavirus proliferating in the United States, and abroad, some grocery shoppers have begun panic purchasing. That behavior is not limited to Americans. Shoppers in other nations have also begun to panic purchase, which in turn, makes it difficult for those who genuinely need groceries to obtain them.

And at least one story has been published about people not being able to purchase much-needed food items, including one about a 51-year-old Critical Care Nurse in England who, after a 48-hour shift, wasn’t able to find any groceries for herself.

“Just stop it please”: Tearful Nurse urges the public to stop panic buying food after she was unable to buy basic items following a 48-hour shift.

Top Out of Stock Categories of grocery store items

There are other readily-observable phenomenological (def. a “method of inquiry concerned with the perception and experience of objects and events as the basis for the investigation of reality”) matters, and events, at work. One such matter is the “80-20 rule.”

Also known as the Pareto Principle, after the Italian economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923) who first described it, the rule, or principle certainly applies in this scenario.

Simply put, as it applies to consumption, the rule states that 80% of your product sales will come from 20% of your customers – or, if you prefer, 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes, which thus asserts an unequal relationship between inputs (cause), and outputs (effect).

The 80/20 rule is borne out also by anecdotal observation, in which an Assistant Grocery Store Manager recently remarked to me that, “There are others who can’t buy things, because the same people are lining up at 6AM when the truck arrives and are buying basketfuls of the same things every time,” adding that, “It’s obviously way more than they need.”

Or, to put it another way, the suffering of 80% of the people who don’t have access to regularly-purchased items, is caused by 20% of the population. Things like that kinda’ gives you pause for thought, doesn’t it?

Further anecdotal evidence may be found among shoppers themselves, who report similarly, which is that a relatively small number of people are purchasing an inordinate quantity of select items, whatever they may be, and thus rapidly depleting available stock and inventories.

Kroger Spokesperson, Melissa Eads in Nashville, TN said that since Thursday, March 12, 2020, Kroger stores have seen a significant increase in the number of customers, and the quantities they’re purchasing. Kroger grocery store officials estimate that most customers are buying at least five times what they would normally buy.

And to buttress the idea that America’s grocery supply chain is safe, and secure, Greg Ferrara, President & CEO of the National Grocers Association has written that, amidst a national profusion of panic purchasing, that:

“Food supplies are plentiful throughout the supply chain and are being replenished continuously to meet the demand. Although some consumers may experience temporary out of stocks in some categories or brands, such as hand sanitizer and paper goods, stores are re-filling shelves as quickly as possible. Supermarket associates are working diligently to quickly restock shelves and clean stores. And, while consumers may find purchase limits on some products that are in high demand, such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies, this is simply to ensure as many customers as possible are able to purchase what they need.”

But since when do people give heed to sound advice, eh?

After all, it was a Wisconsin Republican Congressman and Johnny Carson who were the cause of the “Toilet Paper” shortage scare in American, dating back to December 1973… and hasn’t shown any signs of letting up.

Following are industry observations about the grocery industry – or, more accurately as Consumer Behavior – in relation to COVID-19.

Grocery Shopping & more Grocery Shopping: A Quick Price Comparison – @Publix v @Kroger

As a general rule, I don’t shop at Publix because the prices are higher.

Until now, that’d been only a casual observation.

I had never formally price checked… until now.

Recently, I decided to purchase some groceries at Publix only because the store was conveniently along my route.

My preference continues to be for Kroger.

The 11 items purchased at Publix were:

It’s A Dog’s Life… And They Called It ‘Puppy Love’

So, as it turns out, I bought these as a treat for my puppy. And what do you think she did? Read on to find out!

So…

a few days ago, as a treat,

I bought pig ears at a Kroger grocery store for Queenie, my 11 month old mixed-breed (sometimes aka “Heinz 57” – as in 57 different varieties) puppy.

Last night I

Tennessee may modernize antiquated beverage alcohol laws

Tennessee has some very strange and peculiar laws regarding the regulation of beverage alcohol, most of which remain rooted in the Prohibition Era, and in in fear.

And, true to form, it would be no wonder that Baptists – the arch-conservative religious political right wing activists of the right wing party – are directly involved in efforts to keep the state mired in the antiquated bad old days of yore.

Tennessee is unique in the regard that state law forbids sale of wine except in state-licensed liquor stores. To clarify, the state of Tennessee has an unusual combination of laws that forbid sales of wine in any other type store save one that sells liquor. Further, sales are prohibited on Sunday. Beer, however, is able to be sold in grocery stores… but only if the ABV (Alcohol By Volume) is under 6%.

Alabama once had a similarly prohibitive content law, along with bottle size restriction – which severely limited the sales of domestic and imported craft/micro brew beers and ales. Alabama no longer has such prohibitive limitations.

And then, if one considers the implications of that law – mandating the sale of wine be exclusively limited to sales in liquor stores – the state actually sanctions the liquor enterprise itself, rather than being a neutral, regulatory body. In Tennessee there are no state-operated liquor stores as there are in Alabama. To have a state-run enterprise is not contradictory to the free market, because the state is a direct competitor in the market, which frequently has the lowest priced products, because taxes are the markup/profit margin for the state. Contrasting that model with the private retailer, the private retailer must make a profit atop the taxes which the state charges (after they purchase from the state at a wholesale cost – the same cost the state sells to the general public), thus increasing the retail price above what the state sells it.

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Supporters and opponents of a bill that would let grocery and convenience stores sell wine undertook one final push to sway Tennessee lawmakers Monday ahead of a make-or-break vote in the state legislature.

Liquor store owners, grocery store operators, wine shoppers, a sheriff, an addiction specialist and a minister were among the people allowed to testify at a special hearing held a day before the Senate State & Local Government Committee is to vote on the biggest rewrite of Tennessee’s liquor laws in decades. Members guarded

Draught Raises Corn Price, Milk Profits fall, Cows get Slaughtered

Regardless whether global climate change is man-made, or cyclical… it’s going to affect us all, and we would be wise to DO SOMETHING to PRESERVE, PROTECT and DEFEND ourselves NOW!

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Milk-Cow Drought Culling Accelerates as Prices Jump: Commodities

U.S. milk production is headed for the biggest contraction in 12 years as a drought-fueled surge in feed costs drives more cows to slaughter.

Output will drop 0.5 percent to 198.9 billion pounds (90.2 million metric tons) in 2013 as the herd shrinks to an eight- year low, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Milk futures rose 45 percent since mid-April and may advance at least another 19 percent to a record $25 per 100 pounds by June, said Shawn Hackett. The president of Boynton Beach, Florida-based Hackett Financial Advisers Inc. correctly predicted the rally in March.

Dairies in California, the top milk-producing state, are filing for bankruptcy, and U.S. cows are being slaughtered at the fastest rate in more than a quarter century. Corn surged to a record in August as the USDA forecast the smallest crop in six years because of drought across the U.S. Global dairy prices tracked by the United Nations rose 6.9 percent last month, the most among the five food groups monitored, and that will probably mean record costs next year, Rabobank estimates.

“Farmers can’t afford to buy as much grain and protein, and that affects milk production,” said Bob Cropp, an economist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who has been following the industry since 1966. “In California, there’ve been some foreclosures and some sell-off of cows quite heavily. You’re going to see that in other parts of the country.”

Mercantile Exchange

Class III milk, used to make cheese, jumped 22 percent to $21.05 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange this year. That’s more than 21 of the 24 commodities in the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index, which rose 1.8 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) of equities climbed 12 percent, and Treasuries

Wal-Mart shoppers now jumping the “Fail-Mart” ship in droves

Personal experience from this evening’s shopping:

Brentwood, TN – Having earlier gone out for an appointment in the early evening hours, I decided to stop by the local Wal-Mart (WMT) on Nolensville Road/US Hwy 31 and purchase some grocery items on the way home. It was purely coincidental that “Super Bowl Sunday” was/is tomorrow.

One of the first stops I made at the “super Wal-Mart” (one that has a grocery store), was to the dairy case. Dairy cases are always located in the rear of every grocery store. (Why?

Out of the mouths of babes

Yesterday, though I was in an emotional funk, recovering from a state of mental numbness brought about by the week’s events, I had the wherewithal to go to the grocery store for a few items.

Walking down one aisle to search for an item, I passed by and stood near a young couple with two equally young children, the elder a girl. I suppose the children were aged perhaps no more than 5 and 3.

Having found their goods, the family foursome walked to the end of the aisle near the end caps and

Half kilo of coffee

Ever notice how most coffee sold in the USA is 12 ounce size? This is marketed and sold in Germany.

Tattooed Ladies & Trader Joe’s

I just got back from a brief rendezvous with Trader Joe’s. It’s a grocery store chain out of Monrovia, CA. That would be California for those unfamiliar with the Postal Service abbreviations for the 50 states. (I still haven’t figured out why the newspapers continue to abbreviate Alabama “Ala.,” Massachusetts “Mass,” or Vermont “Ver.”)

Anyway, I wanted some sourdough bread, brie and a bottle of wine. Eat and relax, you see. Because by this time, of course, I was already off work and back in Santa Rosa.

Before I arrived home,

Goodbye, “Hello world!”

First action of the day: eliminate the stupid comment generated by the automated system.

Next action: consider going to grocery store to buy beans, get gas and milk… not necessarily in that order.