Grocery Stores Are Prepping for a Second Wave and Holiday Food Shortages

(Psst: The FTC wants me to remind you that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you'll pay for that item nor does it decrease the awesomeness of the item. ~ Daisy)

Just a few days ago, I wrote an article (The Supply Chain Is Broken and Food Shortages Are HERE) detailing the disruptions to the US supply chain and explained how food shortages are coming to the United States. In fact, I pointed out how they are already here, but many Americans simply don’t know it yet.

After all, mainstream media hasn’t been telling them about the disruptions to the supply chain as a result of COVID lockdowns and questionable strikes nor is it telling them about how many crops have been destroyed as a result of wildfires in the West of the country, straight-line winds in the middle, or flooding and hurricanes in the south.

The mainstream media says the supply chain is just fine.

The mainstream media has been largely silent and has focused more on telling its readers and viewers that the supply chain is just fine.

That is, until recently.

An article from CNN: “Worried about more shortages, grocery stores are stockpiling goods,” starts out: Grocery stores across the United States are stocking up on products to avoid shortages during a second wave of coronavirus.

The article goes on to say that most household items, like paper towels, Clorox wipes continue to be difficult to keep in stock. This is due to people stockpiling the items due to the COVID pandemic. People are cleaning and sanitizing their homes much more often, hoping to keep the virus away. Stores nationwide are stocking up in preparation for not only a second wave of COVID but also for the coming holidays.

The CNN article states:

That’s why Southeastern Grocers bought its Thanksgiving turkeys and holiday hams over the summer, months before inventory planning normally begins, the company’s CEO Anthony Hucker told the Wall Street Journal. Associated Food Stores started stockpiling cleaning and sanitizing products so it always has inventory in its warehouse, and with cold season around the corner, grocery wholesaler United Natural Foods has already loaded up on herbal tea and cold remedies, the company told the Journal.

Early on in the pandemic, grocery stores were focusing on stockpiling weeks of supplies for shoppers, but now food sellers are focusing on the long-term, aiming to stockpile supplies for months instead.

Grocers have been stocking “Pandemic Pallets” to prepare for the second wave

What is a pandemic pallet?

Grocery stores are stocking pallets with items they fear may run low in the coming months. Keeping these pallets stored in the warehouses, most of them are stocked with cleaning items and paper products, cold medicines, dry goods, and food staples like rice, pasta, and legumes – all the things that they ran out of quickly the last time around.  And, with the holidays right around the corner, many stores are stockpiling holiday foods like cranberry sauce.

An article published on Business Insider reported:

“Pandemic Pallets” are gaining more traction, with grocers preparing for worst and stocking the wooden storage structures with items that could be in high demand around Thanksgiving, and even Christmas, according to the Wall Street Journal. The goods being stockpiled on the pallets range from cleaning supplies to dry goods, the report said.

While the pallets vary in nature, their overall purpose remains the same: ensuring grocery stores will be able to handle demand if shoppers begin to “panic buy” as they did in March if COVID-19 cases spike in the winter. In the past week, coronavirus cases have risen in 21 states, as reported by CNN. In countries abroad, a second wave of infections has led to the return of lockdown orders.

The article went on to say that grocery stores are not as sparse as they were in the beginning of the pandemic. Nevertheless, shortages are still expected. The author also wrote:

In some cases, stores have turned to other suppliers to meet demand, which is why some of the toilet paper found on shelves today is from Mexico. Meat suppliers have been hit especially hard by the pandemic due to outbreaks at packaging plants, as previously reported by Business Insider.

Meat shortages were also the focus of this article that describes the effect the pandemic has had on meat supplies.

Here is an excerpt from that article:

Workers at meat packaging plants have been especially hard hit with the coronavirus. Almost 60% of the employees at one Tyson plant in Iowa have tested positive for COVID. Plants everywhere are shutting down for the safety of their employees and despite President Trump’s invocation of the Defense Production Act to force them to reopen, many workers have refused to return to the plants. Factory farms have culled millions of cows, hogs, and chickens because they cannot be to plants that are either closed or reducing the amount of meat they’re able to process while practicing social distancing.

Historically, the centralization of food has always ended in disaster. Unfortunately, giant CAFO operations and USDA approval have centralized our own food supply, and here we are.

Why would there be a food shortage during the holidays?

Why would stores face a shortage of when they haven’t had a shortage in years past? And why would they expect it? Why would that happen on the most socially distanced holiday season in American history?

Many people are staying at home and that means more cooking at home. More cooking at home means more demand for food products from the grocery stores. Regardless of social distancing, people still have to eat.

Mura Dominko of Eat This wrote the article, “Grocery Stores Are Preparing For Shortages Of These Holiday Foods.” She writes,

If there’s one thing that could increase the already existing risk of grocery shortages this fall, it’s the holiday rush. And grocery stores are fully aware that they may face potential challenges trying to keep most sought-after items in stock once November rolls around and we start approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Holiday buying and “second wave” hysteria will no doubt play a major role in causing shortages over the next few months. They are a merchant’s perfect storm of profit. Many merchants are banking on second wave panic buying and holiday panic buying.

So why will there be shortages? Why would suppliers and merchants not stock up and be fully prepared for the coming storm?

The. Food. Supply. Chain. Is. Broken

As I wrote in my last article, the food supply chain is broken. I asked the readers if they have experienced shortages in their areas. Take a look at the comments. People are seeing shortages all over. And they are seeing those shortages now, not three months from now.

If you’re concerned about the broken supply chain, now is the time to start stocking up on food.

You do not have much time left before the items you can grab now are gone and gone for good. Here are some tips for shopping when there aren’t many supplies left on the shelves, and here’s a list of things that are usually imported from China that we haven’t been receiving in the same quantities (if at all) since the crisis began.

I repeat, you cannot wait until the holidays before you start trying to buy what you need. If you aren’t yet prepped, it’s not too late – but you need to start soon. And if the signs pointing toward chaos around the elections is anything to judge by, I’d suggest having all your prep shopping done before Halloween.

Are you stocking up for the second wave of lockdowns? If so, what are you prioritizing? And are you preparing now for the holidays? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Robert Wheeler

Robert Wheeler

Robert Wheeler has been quietly researching world events for two decades. After witnessing the global network of NGOs and several 'Revolutions' they engineered in a number of different countries, Wheeler began analyzing current events through these lenses.

Leave a Reply

  • Check and re-check supplies, inventory, ID any gaps/holes. Fill accordingly.

    Getting a few extra lbs of vacuume sealed meats.
    Getting a few slabs of fresh bacon to cure myself.

    Ordered some more pellets/slugs for the air gun. They are in stock, and not use my .22LR supply.

    • Hey JarHead,
      can you give a brief synopsis on air guns and their advantage. I am totally ignorant about them so plan to do a web search based on your comment. Any sites you could recommend would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks in advance!

      • Marti,

        Check out UK based sites – loads of info on them.

        Airguns are massive in the UK as they can be freely bought and sold without licences or paperwork by anyone over 18 as long as they dont exceeed 12ftlbs muzzle energy.

        12ftlbs does not sound like much but with a well placed .22 pellet its enough to kill a rabbit at 30 yards (and many in the UK do just that).

        If you are in the US keep the power levels at a point where the pellets stay sub-sonic. Pellets are not designed to fly at supersonic speeds and accuracy gets worse as speed increases. Go up in pellet weight and calibre to .25 or larger if power levels send the pellet supersonic.

        Spring air guns will last for decades and can take serious abuse, but high tech PCP airguns are best for everything else – but only if you can maintain them properly.

        Hope that helps.

      • Avoid CO2 powered air rifles/pistols if you’re in an environment where winter season is longer than most other areas of the country. CO2 powered air guns will nor function properly when temps drop below freezing. Not to mention the added cost & storage bulk of having to buy CO2 canisters in addition to your ammo.

        Stick with spring action powered or pneumatic/pump action powered air rifles.

      • If you’re considering buying one for small game hunting then many of the higher velocity (fps) rifles are ideally suited for that purpose, but are generally single shot design. You can obtain semi-auto pistols and carbine rifles but they’re always going to be CO2 powered and most will lack the necessary velocity for hunting and are better suited for target shooting.

        Another obvious advantage air guns offer is they’re not firearms and therefore they are legal for anyone to own much like archery.

        • Actually it is a felony in my town for simple possession of an air rifle. A–hole politicians wrote it from a decade ago.

      • @Marti,
        Hey ya!
        Per the linky provided by Daisy, that was a run down of the basics of air powered rifles and hand guns. It is NOT by any means all inclusive.
        A decent source of information is can be found on the Pyramid Air Guns website under Articles: https://www.pyramydair.com/articles
        I usually shop there for my stuff, but only because they are in Ohio and shipping is faster for me.
        For you West coast types, Airguns of Arizona is a great dealer: https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/

        The guys over at Gateway To Airguns are a great bunch! Lots of information there too. It is an international site too with shooters from all over the world: https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/

        Marti, if you have additional questions, please feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer your questions. I only ask as to not clutter up this thread and incur the wrath of our TOP hostess, Daisy, please post questions on the article I posted on the Air gun topic, and the linky Daisy provided.

        @Everyone else who chimed in,
        Great info and thank you for your additional comments!

      • @Mom,
        Hi ya, mom! Sounds funny coming across the internet, no? 😉
        In short, an air gun is a gun that uses compressed air to send a projectile (usually lead) down a barrel and to the target beyond.
        In the Olympics, they use a very small lead pellet of .177 caliber. That is less than quarter of an inch.
        However, there are larger caliber air guns out there.
        I only recommend them for target shooting or training, or hunting small game or game of the appropriate size for the particular caliber of the air gun.
        I would not use them in the case of self defense, IMHO.

  • In addition to stockpiling food, Id suggest to learn and most definately practice everyday primitive cooking. What I mean by that is this……… If there is no bread to buy, then people should be PRACTICING the method of making bread without electricity or a gas stove. Electric bread makers do not count. Im talking about using FIRE on an open flame or in some type of grill or homemade oven. If a person practices it daily, then when the time comes to an ACTUAL SHTF event, making bread or anything else will be second nature and not stressful.

    • Re: baking bread:

      I got one of those Chinese steamers at a local oriental grocery store. Trying to bake over an open fire, unless you really know what you’re doing, you can end up with burnt on the outside, raw inside. But the steamer evens out the temperatures and takes about the same amount of time as a regular oven.

      The last place I lived before moving here didn’t have a working oven, so we steamed all our bread over a gas stove. Often half a loaf was gone before it had a chance to cool.

      • Thank you,
        Looked up Chinese steamers and bread/bum recipes on U-tube… looks like a new learning experience… for the coming lockdown

    • Getting and learning how to use a CAST IRON Dutch oven can be a Godsend in a situation like you described. Your heat source can be charcoal or wood. With a little practice you can make or bake a large variety of foods. There are several Dutch oven cookbooks available to help you get started and Lodge, an American company, makes good ones in several sizes.

    • I also suggest writing down some simple recipes for many foods. I have been making biscuits nearly my entire life (age 67) since I was a child. In a SHTF situation, however, I might “forget” to add something necessary even for so simple a recipe! Stress might blank my mind if you will.

      I have been cooking in a dutch oven for years as well – over an open fire, baking with coals on top and bottom, etc. I have a heat chart as well as some simple bread, soup/stew recipes filed away inside my dutch ovens!

      I have also assembled a binder with directions for making an oven and grille when out in the woods with nothing more than a knife or hatchet.

  • Yes! I am getting winter clothes, low tech entertainment, and the rest of it as I can. Every fall i do this, but esp. 2020. Limited apace, so I am selective.

  • I got an email a week or so ago from one of my suppliers and they were warning they customer that a plastic shortage is coming.
    Think about all the things made out of plastic and all the food that is in plastic containers, bags, bottles and even metal cans are lined with plastic.

  • Hey Daisy,
    as always, thanks for the heads up. I would like to offer some observations but not about food. I know in the great scheme of things this would fall into “luxury” items, but I have been amazed at the number of toys that our local stores are now stocking. I began to notice this in September. For so long bikes, and other types of children’s entertainment were slim pickings around these parts (SE North Carolina). Now it looks like Black Friday in all the stores I go to. For years I have tried to observe what stores have a lot of and what do they not. For me this is an indication the Illuminati is sending a message as they supposedly warn before they strike.

    They toy abundance stands out because of the starkness over the past several months. I would suggest reviewing what types of grid independent entertainment you have in your homes and looking to see what you can buy NOW for future use. This could include things you can stockpile for gifts for little ones but also entertainment for adults as well. Board games, cards, drawing materials (crayons, colored pencils, sharpeners, coloring books, art supplies, etc.), bikes, bike parts, scooters, jump ropes, exercise and sporting goods to name a few. I really wonder if there will be an abundance of such things come Black Friday or what bans will be imposed so if you can, buy now.

  • So grocery stores are doing what we used to as “the norm” 100 years ago when I worked at them as a teen. All grocery stores had a large storeroom in the back full of pallets of stuff.
    They actually planned for things and then had “sales” if it didn’t pan out.
    On a side note we’d run the pallet jacks like scooters and have races LOL, used our muscles, good times with no cameras and no butthurt at everything America. Man I miss those days.
    Things have been looking much better around here. We’ve even had clorox wipes and lysol spray form time to time. I bought several containers of each for the grandsons daycare.
    I’m not near as worried about the “2nd wave” as I am civil unrest in a month. I hope we are all wrong and everything is fine but…..

    • Hey Matt, you just brought a big smile to my face remembering the pallet jack races in the store room in my teens and getting lined up for a talking to when the store manager caught us. Then I remembered I was still doing the same thing in my mid 40’s in the warehouse of the transport company that I owned. Now, not so much. Transport company is gone & more fun executing projects with the Bobcat on the farm.

      • LOL good times
        Pallet Jack Races in my teens and Buffer Rodeos in the army ahh the good ole days.
        It’s funny you motioned Bobcats cause I rented one a while back and my son did the work because I didn’t know how to drive one very well. The job literally took him 20 minutes. After he was done I kicked him out and he was laughing and asked what I was gonna do. I said have me a little fun cause I paid for it. He was laughing to tears at how much damage I did to the backyard spinning and stuff.

  • Thank you Daisy! I’ve been worrying about the same thing myself. Going to check my pantry and freezer for gaps. I’ve been canning like the energizer bunny to have as many heat and eat meals as possible, plus I want to lose as little as possible if the power goes. We invested in a 300 gallon water storage unit.

    Appreciate your advice and concern. I was especially happy of your encouragement of the new preppers out there. There are too many negative nellies out there.

  • 1stmarinejarhead, thanks for the article. I’ve been looking into them. Here in Australia you need a licence for them. It’s hard work getting a licence for anything and at the moment all licences sessions have been stopped due to the covid19. We can’t own a sling shot and cross bows can’t be owned unless you are a member of an archery club. But I’m not giving up, getting a licence was on my to do list in January and as soon as they open it up I’m applying for one for hunting .
    The main stream media on just about all our channels said there definitely would be good shortages this Christmas and to stock up early. I’ve been getting a couple of extra things early each week. I don’t fancy trying to get to the shops in December. I also have been getting a few Little supplies fortnightly for my summer projects / Christmas building projects.

  • My neighbor is 83 and he is usually a pretty upbeat fellow. He stopped today and I could see a sadness in his face. Just worn down, tired looking. He came to ask me to explain how to freeze eggs again. So I told him and we visited a little. He expressed several concerns and talked about how he could no longer recognize the world we live in. Even the seasons are out of norm. I agreed with him. He talked about years ago and how sad it is for kids who will never get to be kids. I agreed again. We talked about the things that are hard to find (like pumpkin) and he laughed and shook his head. He said he had been thinking about this whole thing and wondered if there were any blessings that have come from this whole stay at home. He said he had been building a small fire in the evening and setting outside and just enjoying the evening and peacefulness. If it had not been for the stay at home, he would have stayed inside and watched TV and done nothing (according to him). He talked awhile longer and he seemed to sound more like his old self. It may be off topic, but in our rush to get this thing and that thing, remember to stop and listen to our neighbors. There may not be an answer to the ponderings, but I was reminded to look for the blessings and always be kind.

    • PA MOM,THE LORD gave you this HOAX so you’d have time to read your BIBLE and get closer to him..YOU’LL need his help soon and very few americans know him at all,,,SOON THE REAL PAMDEMIC WILL BEGIN,the US ARMY BIO-WAR FARE CENTER is going to unleash a PLAGUE on america that will kill millions,that says nothing of the invasion of foreign military,the poleshift thats coming to turn the world UPSIDE DOWN,theres going to be a LOT of death in the streets of america as it comes to its END,,

      • Arizona read your bible and turn off the TV, walk away from the Internet Doom Sayers.

        2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

        John 14:27
        Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

        John 14:27
        Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.

        Romans 8:15
        For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

        Trouble indeed we shall have in this life but HE has Overcome.

        Matthew 10:28
        “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

        Spiritual preps are as important as food or firearms.

        All men die, but not all men really live.

        William Wallace

        You also might want to get some extra meds because if your this STRESSED in “almost Normal” times how are you going to do when things get UGLY?

  • WELL ,if anyone was LISTENING TO FARMERS,they’d KNOW their hero’s in the POLICE GANGS have been going to small farms all over america KILLING THEIR ANIMALS,and putting them,out of business,MOST OF YOU WILL STARVE TO DEATH,and while your licking your hero’s butt..THEIR STABBING YOU IN THE BACK,and they know what their doing,SADLY THE KIDS are the only ones who see it,AMERICANS who live in a DREAM world are to blind to see it,(thats 90%),this will cost them their life in the coming WAR..and even those who think their ready..WON’T BE..THOMAS JEFFERSON warned everyone NO STANDING ARMIES,they would STEAL YOUR FREEDOM AND LIBERTY.AND THATS EXACTLY what they’ve done..NOW you get to fight them

    • @AZ,
      I know a lot of farmers around here. A fair number of them Amish too.
      Nope. No police gangs showing up at their farms, putting their animals to death.
      The Amish kids, nope. They have not seen anything like that either.
      No US Army Bio-wepons to be seen.
      Since CV19 kicked in, less of their training flights every month. Same goes for the Air Force C-5, C-17s. Did hear a sonic boom when one of the go fasters busted it. I am sure he got a talking too.
      With the exception of various restrictions the state governor has put on us, it is pretty much ho-hum.

    • Why are you making this crazy stuff up? We have a problem with too many live stock on the farms because the processing plants are shut down.

  • In my case, I have a colostomy bag and have been buying extra supplies that are needed for that. Be mindful of your needs when it comes to your medical situations and what you may need for awhile if things go to heck on us.

  • should Costco either a) raise rotisserie chicken prices and / or b) limit purchase to 1 again as they did in Mar / Apr and still run out of supply–that should speak volumes about the poultry supply chain…as I understand, they do raise & process their own birds now. Since this Covid BS, they have doubled their staple sundae / smoothie prices at the food counter. Will rotisserie chickens be next? We are in an era of stagflation. The peak of this current commodity boom is projected to climax in May 2024.

    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/armstrongeconomics101/economics/is-inflation-inevitable/

    For those who have yet to watch it, I recommend this brief mask ineffectiveness video and the Plandemic series to better understand the grand deception upon the masses.

    Masks 3min
    https://www.brighteon.com/8f7fd8e1-be00-4e5d-aee2-e1b801b7a146

    Plandemic II 75min
    https://www.brighteon.com/d6412bff-0421-4190-a7bf-3e5e1f52559d

    Plandemic 26min
    https://www.brighteon.com/1cc6aa19-a4a7-4e48-81b9-ae6d0a5f0b39

  • One thing you can do to minimize shortage effects is to get on SUBSCRIPTIONS with the online retailers you do business with. Subscribe to Amazon for twice monthly drops of toilet tissue, paper towels (if you use them), garbage bags, yeast, baking powder, canned meats, and dried foods like rice, beans, pasta, Ramen noodles, sugar and salt. They fill their subscription orders first and what is left goes to “irregular” buyers. During the worst of COVID, my long-term food supplier was advising that shipping could take up to 10 weeks. With the chaotic state of our nation, I dont want to wait that long. So I got on a monthly subscription with a different company. And I am getting shipments every month.

  • I doubt that a second wave is going to happen in Georgia and quite a number of other states that have been open for some time. We toughed through the spike and now are falling below places like NY and others whose numbers are going up with their dictatorial governors shutting them down – again! What did the citizens of NY and other locked down states think was going to happen staying locked down until every business goes bankrupt or broke then opening oh so slowly?

    And if the citizens knew that was going to happen then why did they and continue to elect dictatorial democrats? William Wilhem (deBlasio) and Fredo are your saviors? Perhaps when you pull yourselves out of the ashes you might realize that politicians are not your friends and a very short leash must be kept on all of them.

  • “People are seeing shortages all over”

    ? I’m not. the grocery stores are stuffed, with lots of foods approaching their best-by dates.

  • You Need More Than Food to Survive
    50-nonfood-stockpile-necessities

    In the event of a long-term disaster, there are non-food essentials that can be vital to your survival and well-being. Make certain you have these 50 non-food stockpile essentials. Sign up for your FREE report and get prepared.

    We respect your privacy.
    >
    Malcare WordPress Security