Wipeout in the grocery aisle
Shoppers face spotty shortages as delta variant rages on
Been food shopping lately? Then you’ve probably noticed some shelves looking a little bare.
Heightened demand along with supply chain issues tied to labor shortages due to the surge in the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19 are making it hard for stores to keep shelves fully stocked.
Some of the items most often cited as being in short supply include fresh chicken, frozen foods and canned goods as manufacturers and grocers contend with a shortage of aluminum cans coupled with high demand from nervous consumers eating at home more often and stocking up as a hedge against more pandemic shutdowns.
Giant Eagle, the region’s biggest grocer, said that while it isn’t experiencing any widespread shortages, customers can expect spotty outages.
“In some cases, manufacturers have decided to limit the number of item varieties or flavors being produced or place order allocations on certain items,” the O’Hara-based chain said in an email to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette late last week.
The Post-Gazette took a shopping trip last week to find out what was in short supply. We stopped in at a local Walmart, Giant Eagle, Shop ‘n Save and Aldi. Here’s what we found. Unlike early in the pandemic, toilet paper and disinfecting wipes were plentiful at the stores we visited, except for Aldi, which had a limited supply of wipes.
At Shop ’n Save in the Century Square shopping center in West Mifflin, and at Aldi nearby, the shelves seemed well stocked.
But an employee stocking canned goods at Shop ’n Save said it was hard to order many items.
“Lots of things are still out of
stock at the warehouse because of the pandemic,” he said, declining to give his name. “I do the ordering. Out of a 10,000-piece order, I may get 7,000.”
At the Walmart Supercenter in West Mifflin, a quick spin around the food aisles found several shelves of canned pasta empty and a spotty supply overall of canned tomato products.
Some fresh chicken products also were coming up short.
Walmart did not respond to a request for comment.
At Giant Eagle on Mountain View Drive in West Mifflin, the fresh chicken bins were full. But parts of the frozen food aisles looked bare.
“A lot of it hasn’t been coming in,” said an employee stocking the freezers.
A few aisles over, two shelves meant to hold Heinz Homestyle gravy were empty except for a couple of stray jars.
An employee said the product
was out of stock at the warehouse. “We haven’t been able to get it in a couple of weeks,” he said.
At the Giant Eagle store on Butler Plank Road in Shaler, there were signs posted in several aisles explaining bare shelves due to “supply issues,” including in the pet food, frozen food, tomato products and gravy aisles, as well as for Listerine mouthwash and Gatorade.
“While product availability does vary by time and location, we are in a strong position in our fresh departments and, in most cases, have product options available across all categories where specific brand availability may be limited,” the grocery store operator said in an email.
“As the situation evolves, we will continue to adapt and work closely with our supply partners to meet the needs of our guests with the products that are available.”
In conclusion, shoppers are likely to encounter spotty shortages of some staple grocery items as they wander the aisles. The good news is that if it’s something you really want, a little hunting at other stores nearby is likely to turn up what you need.