Diminishing Quality of Food & Products

nivek

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Order your Christmas presents now! Brace for continued shortages and price hikes in 2022



Companies are preparing for historic supply chain snags to continue into 2022. The president of UPS, Scott Price, said on Sunday that low global vaccination rates, especially in developing countries, is likely to contribute to increased shortages in the coming year.

“The logistics industry does not see 2022 as having any less disruption in supply chains than in 2021,” Price told AFP, an international news agency located in Paris, France.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, a boom in demand has overwhelmed the supply chain. Transportation has struggled to keep up as rising demand met COVID-19 shutdowns, labor shortages, as well as historic weather occurrences, causing a lack of shipping containers and supplies, alongside major price hikes.

Price’s comment comes at the same time as overseas shipping rates between Asia and the US have hit an all-time high. Judah Levine, the Head of Research at Freightos, told Insider shipping prices between the two regions have jumped 500% from this time last year.

While the UPS executive said he expects transportation costs to stabilize in the coming year, several companies have already boosted consumer prices due to elevated shipping costs.



Some examples

Kroger

Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, indicated on Friday that it plans to hike prices due to inflation.

Kroger is “passing along higher costs to the customer where it makes sense to do so,” CFO Gary Millerchip said at the company’s earnings call on Friday.

Food prices in the US have been on the rise for six straight months. In June, US consumer prices hit their largest annual increase since 2008, with oil and food prices leading the categories with the largest price hikes.

Toyota
On Friday, Toyota said it plans to further slash its output over the next two months by 400,000 units due to the computer-chip shortage. Similarly, major paint company Sherwin Williams has been plagued by shortages since the Texas freeze, and more recently due to the impact of Hurricane Ida on petrochemical production.

Lululemon
Athletic apparel company Lululemon said last week that the company is struggling with shortages and higher transportation costs because much of its supplies – like many US companies – are made in countries like Vietnam that have suffered from COVID-19 shutdowns in recent months. The company has been one of the retailers to see a surge in sales during the pandemic, as work-from-home pushed a boom in athleisure wear.

In 2021, the UPS hiked their prices by 4 to 5.5%, but Price said he expects prices to increase by a much slimmer average of 2.8% in 2022.

“I half-jokingly tell people ‘Order your Christmas presents now because otherwise on Christmas day, there may just be a picture of something that’s not coming until February or March,’” Price said. [Insider]

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nivek

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I went to Wal-Mart after work today and a few of the food shelves were empty, also bottled water was all gone too...Different brands of cereal, some meats, mostly beef and poultry were almost gone as well as many varieties of ice cream...

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Rikki

High Priestess
the grocery store where Debbie works is always out of bathroom paper. as Nivek said certain meats are expensive or in very short supply this year it cost more for basic school supplies. soap is is in short supply as well. It is quite the mess.
Blessed Be
Rikki
 

nivek

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Bleak Britain: Soaring bills, empty supermarket shelves, used cars that cost MORE and NO toys for Christmas - how UK faces being crippled by 'perfect storm' of Covid, Brexit and soaring gas prices that will leave families thousands out of pocket



Britain is facing up to a bleak end to the year, with a fresh threat of food shortages coming amid an imminent hike in the cost of living (top-right, increased energy costs; bottom-left, increased petrol costs; bottom-middle, an inflation rise). A lack of lorry drivers in recent weeks, along with the effects of the 'pingdemic' in previous months, has seen many supermarket shelves left bare (top-left). Now the food supply chain is up against a new challenge, after soaring gas prices forced much of the country's commercial production of carbon dioxide to shut down. The industry describes the gas as being fundamental to producing and transporting supermarket staples like bread and meat, as well as beer and fizzy drinks. As well as essentials like food and drink, there have also been reports of shortages of toys ahead of Christmas (top-middle), and ties as more workers return to the office, while the price of used cars has sky-rocketed to the extent they now cost more than some new models (bottom-right).

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nivek

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nivek

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Cargo ships anchored off NY and LA face 4-WEEK wait to berth and trains in Chicago are backed up 25 miles with global supply chain on the brink of collapse: Americans face shortages of cars, shoes and exercise gear as holiday season looms



Dozens of cargo ships anchored off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the US face shocking wait times of up to four weeks while railyards and trucking routes are hopelessly clogged due to the lack of manpower to unload goods - with an expert warning that the government needs to intervene or face spiraling inflation and unemployment. The backlog of billions of dollars of toys, clothing, electronics, vehicles, and furniture comes as the demand for consumer goods hit its highest point in history as consumers stay home instead of spending money on travel and entertainment. Supply chains have lagged far behind consumer demand due to a lack of manpower at American ports and the restrictions that came with the COVID-19 outbreak early last year. These constraints, which include social distancing and mandatory quarantines, have severely limited the number and ability of port workers to do their jobs. 'Global infrastructure was not designed to handle goods at such a rate,' a logistics expert, who asked not to be named, told DailyMail.com. 'Supply chains are the artery who feeds our entire ecosystem. The government needs to intervene to stop this crisis immediately, or face increased inflation and unemployment, and economic breakdown - or face an end to global trade.'

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nivek

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Its going to get a lot worse...

 

nivek

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I went to the grocery store about an hour ago, spent 60 dollars which didn't get much...I did notice the store shelves becoming emptier than in the past, a few items gone completely like saltines and some brands of cereal...

One thing in particular that I noticed in every aisle, many of the shelves appear to be full but they're not...The store clerks keep the items moved up to the front of the shelf giving the appearance of a full shelf but take one or two items away and there's nothing behind them or just one of two items left...In the past the shelves were full from front to back, no longer is that the case...

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Sheltie

Fratty and out of touch.
I've worked in grocery stores and I've worked in logistics. Anytime a retailer has empty shelves, especially a retailer with a thin profit margin like a grocery store, you know they're taking a hit to their profits. It's scary the way grocery stores look these days.

And don't forget, the higher prices and reduced inventory are on top of shrinkflation. Just about everything sold nowadays in grocery stores is being shrunk in volume or size so producers don't have to raise their prices (as much).
 

nivek

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Let's go Brandon!...

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Inflation rate rises to 5.4% - matching the 13-year high set this summer - as meat prices jump 10% and gas prices soar 42% from a year ago

US inflation continues to rise, punishing everyday Americans with higher prices at the stores as huge tangles in the global supply chain limit the movement of key goods. Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent last month, slightly higher than August's gain and pushing annual inflation back to its highest increase in 13 years.

The consumer price index rose 5.4 percent in September from a year ago, up slightly from August's gain of 5.3 percent and matching the levels seen in June and July. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose 0.2 percent in September and 4 percent compared with a year ago. The core inflation number hit a three-decade high of 4.5 percent in June.


(More on the link)

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nivek

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Frustrated shoppers share photos of bare aisles in stores across the country and #EmptyShelvesJoe trends on Twitter as Biden's response to supply chain crisis is slammed as 'too little, too late'



Joe Biden was being taunted online on Thursday with the hashtag 'Empty Shelves Joe', as frustrated shoppers complained about shortages of products in their local stores, and concern grew about possible Christmas shortages. Twitter users posted pictures of empty shelves at stores around the country, as the nations supply chain crisis continued. Biden on Wednesday acknowledged the concerns. 'With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time? 'I know you’re hearing a lot about something called supply chains and how hard it is to get a range of things from a toaster to sneakers to bicycles to bedroom furniture.' He called new agreements with ports, unions, and shippers 'a sign of major progress in moving goods from manufacturers to a store and to your front door.' Earlier on Wednesday, Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary, had sparked alarm by saying: 'We are not the postal service or UPS or FedEx. We cannot guarantee. 'What we can do is use every lever at the federal government's disposal to reduce delays, to ensure that we are addressing bottlenecks in the system, including ports and the need for them to be open longer hours.' The shortages are due to issues in the global supply chain, but Biden's critics have accused him of mismanagement. The port of Los Angeles, North America's busiest container terminal, began 24-hour operations on Thursday after the White House intervened to help ease bottlenecks that are choking commerce and pushing up prices.

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nivek

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Spent 90 dollars in fuel filling my car and filling two 5 gallon containers...My propane source went up 5 dollars per 20 lbs. on his prices this week, spent over 60 dollars on dog food that will last a week and 200 dollars on groceries for myself that won't last very long...

Way to go Brandon!...

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nivek

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Joe Biden's third world economy has just began, its going to get worse...Stock up now while its still possible...

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