HOUSTON — It's been a year and half since toilet paper first disappeared from store shelves. So why are we still seeing grocery shortages and how you can find those things you need?
Every week a new grocery shelf is empty.
Debbie Randall had to hunt all over town for Gatorade. Marlene Davis struggles to find her favorite brand of ham. And if it’s for a school lunch like juice boxes or Lunchables – get ready for a food fight in aisle 4!
Sure there is plenty of food on the shelves, but when it comes to what you want, suddenly you can't find it.
"The warehouse is currently shipping about 70% of what we order,” Ray Dietrich said. He owns an IGA grocery store.
He says supplies are so tight that one missing ingredient – like crackers – can mean there won't be Lunchables delivered that week.
“They got the meat. They have the other ingredients,” Dietrich said. “They just don’t have the crackers."
How can manufacturers and stores fix things? Not easily, according to Kerry Byrne, the president of Total Quality Logistics, the nation’s second largest trucking coordinator.
“Every component of the supply chain is stressed right now," Byrne said.
Total Quality Logistics is working round the clock to get products to grocery shelves. Byrne says President Biden’s plan for the ports of Los Angeles to work 24 hours a day will help but won't cure everything.
"If we do get the product on the truck, and then we send it to the distribution facility, and they don't have the labor to unload it, that’s a problem," Byrne said.
So how can you to find the grocery items you can’t find?
On top of that, manufacturers are cutting back on less popular items like root beer. So how can you to find the grocery items you can’t find?
- Newsweek suggests you open online accounts at Walmart, Target, and grocery stores like Kroger and Meijer, then order for pickup.
- Check the manufacturers website for stores where it is in stock.
- Check independent grocery stores, like Dietrich's IGA.
The good news: he says we won't go hungry, but, "you just have to get used to the fact that we won’t have full blown variety for a while."
And "a while" could mean into next year.
“I do not see things getting better anytime soon. There is just too much backlog of inventory," Dietrich said.
As for Lunchables, Kraft Heinz blames school being back in session and says, “It is on the case, to get them back on store shelves soon.”