Oh no: are we about to face empty supermarket shelves again?
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, we saw something for the first time that many of us had never experienced before: empty supermarket shelves. It made many people realise that you can’t always have everything under control. And now we may be facing empty shelves again—and do you know why?
Because supermarkets and suppliers are embroiled in a fierce battle over prices. That in itself is an annual occurrence, but what’s different from ‘the old days’ is that these negotiations are becoming necessary more and more often…
Fiercely opposed
Because the market is uncertain and unstable, and experts speaking to various news sources such as AD and BNR indicate that the uncertainty is enormous and there is little willingness to compromise between the parties.
A chain of problems
What’s behind this? Producers are facing price increases in all kinds of areas, partly due to the war in Ukraine and the coronavirus crisis. Raw materials, energy, gas, fuel, transport and packaging materials have all become more expensive (and don’t forget to return your empty beer bottles!). Producers understandably want to pass on those price increases, while supermarkets are reluctant to raise prices because, simply put, they’re afraid of losing customers. On top of that, suppliers want to sit down together more often because of the regular and often negative changes, rather than just the usual once a year.
Consumers will lose out either way
This leads to difficult negotiations, with one possible scenario being that suppliers refuse to deliver their products if supermarkets don’t pay the asking price—or that supermarkets refuse to buy a product at that price. And in many cases, such a conflict could result in empty shelves.
Hoping for better times
Let’s hope this doesn’t, for God’s sake, lead to hoarding again. Or stress drinking, like during the previous crisis, when it suddenly became completely normal to be eyeing the bottle by lunchtime on a Tuesday. And let’s keep our fingers crossed that pasta doesn’t disappear from the shelves, because a really good carbonara, among other things, is exactly the kind of comfort food you might need in troubled times.
Also read:
- Tested: this is the tastiest (and the worst) garlic baguette from the supermarket
- These groceries are getting more and more expensive; no end to the price increases in sight yet
- Even more supermarket annoyances: ‘Ugh, a banana someone has sucked on at the checkout’
