We Ain't Got No Steaks!!!


 
Just to be clear I'm not trying to blame hoarders. Even with toilet paper I doubt there were that many real hoarders. I'm just trying to not to exacerbate an already potentially bad problem by hoarding myself. Also stocking up now when prices are already high is a bad idea. Our store is limiting buying but in a really stupid way. They had rib roasts on sale for 6 bucks a pound which was great but limit 1. They also had single ribeyes limit one per customer. Who the hell buys just one ribeye? Rib Roasts, I get. Limit 2? Okay, that's reasonable. If I really wanted to stock up I'd look into splitting a cow or buying direct. If you can buy in that way you are helping. Clearing out a grocery store is not helping. I'm not really seeing people do that, though. I've been reading the same articles as Lynn so I'm well aware of the bottlenecks.
 
Sadly the issue is due to panic buyers and hoarders. It was pointedly brought home by our local farm caster Orion Samuelson recently on the WGN radio business and their early Saturday AM Farm Show. He noted that even WITH the interruptions if there was not panic/hoarding buying the supply would have barely a hiccup because there is so much redundancy built into it. Slowed down a little yes but store shelves should have and would have remained well stocked had it not been for panic buyers responding to sensationalized news casts. If people just bought what they needed there would have never been any issues
 
Exactly. The people that are hoarding meat now are not saving money by doing so. I doubt that the idea of saving money is their reason though. It's based 100% on fear/panic. Eventually the current bottleneck will stabilize (we're already seeing this in regards to cleaning/sanitizing supplies), and meat production/supplies will return to normal.
 
Well Tyson taking out a full page add probably isn't doing anyone any favors on that front. A lot of the problem is that customers want ground beef and so things like briskets are getting ground up to satisfy that demand. Steaks are in somewhat less demand if you can find them. A customer of ours was saying ground beef was something like 8 bucks a pound where she was at. I wonder what a chuck roast costs there. Even when our meat was cleared out in that first week, you could still find roasts that you could grind up.
 
Not to be a downer, but a lot of the hoarders I’ve seen are just greedy people. I’ve seen a number of people blocking off areas of the meat section with their body and shopping with their phone to their ear while they load their cart up.
 
Before all this we stocked up when the sales were good. Now people are stocking up just because it's there.

Tim
 
It doesn't take media reports to whip up hoarding. Rumors spread faster than any virus or any news report. I have two eyes, I walk into Costco Great Oaks here in San Jose way back on Feb. 29 and see that there's no TP. I tell my friends, they tell their friends, and away we go!
 
Chris Allingham said:
It doesn't take media reports to whip up hoarding. Rumors spread faster than any virus or any news report. I have two eyes, I walk into Costco Great Oaks here in San Jose way back on Feb. 29 and see that there's no TP. I tell my friends, they tell their friends, and away we go!
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Please don’t tell them their is a shortage of liquor, beer, or coffee.
 
Where are all the "hoarders" getting this huge amount of meat that's stopping the rest of us from being able to buy any?
At the end of April, Beef production was down 25%, pork down 15%. Farmers are burying animals because the processing plants are either shut down or open with reduced staff. Ya think that might have a little something to do with the shortages?

Just because I buy more product than you, (be it meat, TP, vegetables, coffee, etc) that doesn't make me a hoarder. I've always bought in quantity for the simple fact that I save money and can shop when it's convenient. Costco is 40 minutes away. When I go there I plan on stocking up. Always have and always will unless there's limits.

We congratulate the people that post here showing their stash of the last 20 bags of charcoal from the box store or their packages of meat that they put up with their Foodsavers. Are they now hoarders and evil people? Where do you draw the line?

/rant-off :)
 
Much of the early shortages were for items packaged for households. There was plenty of TP in the pipeline but it was bulk packaged in cases for commercial use and not individual packs of 4 for the home. Over night people stopped consuming supplies at work or or anywhere else outside the home and quickly cleared the shelves. There was and probably still is plenty of TP out there if you're willing to buy a case of 50 without the fancy wrappers.

Our stores were out of 5 lb bags of flour and sugar. A quick online search found plenty of 50 lb bags that the bakeries weren't buying.
 
LMichaels said:
Sadly the issue is due to panic buyers and hoarders. It was pointedly brought home by our local farm caster Orion Samuelson recently on the WGN radio business and their early Saturday AM Farm Show. He noted that even WITH the interruptions if there was not panic/hoarding buying the supply would have barely a hiccup because there is so much redundancy built into it. Slowed down a little yes but store shelves should have and would have remained well stocked had it not been for panic buyers responding to sensationalized news casts. If people just bought what they needed there would have never been any issues
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Well, I guess, if that's how Orion Samuelson wants to look at it ........... but its more of a " chicken and egg " thing, the hoarding is taking place when people become aware of possible food shortages due to the processing plants shutting down.

Before the plants started closing, we were getting back to normal. My personal experience was there was plenty of meat on the shelves. Then some " expert " at our state Ag school, Okla State Univ, decided to get on TV and tell people there would be supply problems ........ and voila , the shelves are empty at Sams.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Well, I guess, if that's how Orion Samuelson wants to look at it ........... but its more of a " chicken and egg " thing, the hoarding is taking place when people become aware of possible food shortages due to the processing plants shutting down.

Before the plants started closing, we were getting back to normal. My personal experience was there was plenty of meat on the shelves. Then some " expert " at our state Ag school, Okla State Univ, decided to get on TV and tell people there would be supply problems ........ and voila , the shelves are empty at Sams.
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You're in fact simply repeating what I did. Perception is everything. If people perceive an issue there is one.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
A customer of ours was saying ground beef was something like 8 bucks a pound where she was at.
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I was talking to the gent who owns the local tavern last week about the possibility of a full case order of brisket for me. At the time he said plan on expensive, his cost for ground beef had gone up 60% alone, but still less than your customer. When I talked to him again a couple of days later, brisket had gone up probably 20%, maybe a little less. When he's finally allowed to open up for in-house dining, he's not sure he'll be able to, his furloughed staff are taking in more on unemployment than he was able to pay (and I'm pretty sure that he's not getting rich at the tavern.)
 
I get very tired of the “knee jerk” reaction with respect to all the panic buying. Buy what you NEED let others buy what they NEED and there should be enough to go around.
I have been offered the unused freezer at my in-laws and when I go I will get what I think we will actually use in a reasonable length of time. Since it’s just the two of us, we don’t need much. A few extra butts of loins is stock for the longer haul. If it’s there, I’ll get some if it’s not I’m not going to go bananas, when I need it it will be there. Have a little Faith and, confidence in your fellow man, and we can all get through it. Be kind!
 
Phil S said:
A quick online search found plenty of 50 lb bags that the bakeries weren't buying.
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As I mentioned in another thread, smart stores like one of our local organic stores started breakdown sacks of bakery flour into 1.3 lb plastic deli containers. They're doing the same, but in smaller amounts, with yeast.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Then some " expert " at our state Ag school, Okla State Univ, decided to get on TV and tell people there would be supply problems ........ and voila , the shelves are empty at Sams.
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There's plenty of blame to go around, if you want to call it that.

Remember, it was Tyson Meats that published a full-page ad in The Washington Post on 4/27/20, signed by the CEO, saying in part (emphasis is mine):

"In small communities around the country where we employ over 100,000 hard-working men and women, we’re being forced to shutter our doors. This means one thing – the food supply chain is vulnerable. As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain. As a result, there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed."

And...

"In addition to meat shortages, this is a serious food waste issue. Farmers across the nation simply will not have anywhere to sell their livestock to be processed, when they could have fed the nation. Millions of animals – chickens, pigs and cattle – will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities. The food supply chain is breaking."

This was reported by national news outlets, and rightfully so because it's news. Don't think this played a part in people rushing to stores to buy the last package of chicken or pork?

thefeed.blog

Feeding the Nation and Keeping Our Team Members Healthy - Tyson Foods

As Chairman of Tyson Foods, I am grateful for our team members, but most of all I care about their health and safety. They come to work every day to feed our country with safe, sustainable, quality and affordable food.
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And remember it is Tyson who is sending chickens to China for processing then sent back here, and we have no idea what is sent back
 
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