Food rationing a new reality in Canada, U.S.

At a Publix store in St. Petersburg, Fla., handmade signs limit customers to two packages of beef, pork and Italian sausage. In Toronto, shoppers at a west end Loblaws can’t buy more than two dozen eggs and two gallons of milk.

Spoiled for choice before the pandemic, North American shoppers are finding they can’t get everything they want as grocery stores ration in-demand items to safeguard supplies.

While the panic that swept through supermarkets in the first weeks of the coronavirus lockdowns has eased, people are still filling fridges and pantries with stay-at-home staples.

As a result, stores are restricting purchases to prevent items from vanishing from shelves.

“It’s not a shortage, it’s just that it needs to get from the supplier throughout the supply chain to the stores,” said Diane Brisebois, president and chief executive officer of the Retail Council of Canada.

Overall, there’s enough retail supply, said Heather Garlich, a spokesperson for FMI, a food industry association that represents retailers and producers.

But there have been “sporadic challenges” with high-demand products and 49 per cent of U.S. shoppers report their supermarket has had products out of stock, according to the industry’s tracking.

Some manufacturers have shifted their focus to making more of just a few core products, which makes it easier for retailers to restock supplies.

There are signs that panic buying is waning and shoppers are returning to more traditional patterns. U.S. packaged food sales rose 24 per cent in the week ended April 4 from a year ago, slowing from a gain of 32 per cent a week earlier, according to data compiled by Nielsen.

And while meat aisles remain stocked, the spread of coronavirus among North American slaughterhouses is raising concerns of a shortfall in pork and beef at grocery stores.