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> I was able to buy flour at my grocery store for first time in 2 months yesterady The experience for consumer-packaged flour differs a lot by region, but it s
by microcolonel 6y ago
> I was able to buy flour at my grocery store for first time in 2 months yesterady
The experience for consumer-packaged flour differs a lot by region, but it seems it was mostly about the capacity of consumer flour packaging facilities than the capacity of flour mills or wheat farmers. Similar thing with toilet paper: people were pooping at home more, so they needed consumer-packaged toilet paper, thus there was a temporary shortage of consumer-packaged toilet paper while facilities adapted to demand.
RE flour: here in Hamilton, Ontario, flour in consumer packaging was a rare find for about a week, until retail prices rose slightly (10%?) and now things are basically back to normal in terms of availability.
- topkai22 6y agoIt is still tough to find toilet paper at retail here (Reno, Nevada), but manageable. The lack of commercially packaged TP being sold at retail or alternative market mechanisms remains one of the greate mysteries of the crisis for me. I know plenty of people who would have bought the big rolls just have something. There was a real demand issue on TP as well- lots of people who used to only buy 1-6 roles at a time started panic buying 4x the amount.
- microcolonel 6y agoPart of problem with retooling for consumer TP is that a lot of commercial TP is lower grade than consumers are used to at home; often barely meeting the definition of “two ply”, not soft or doped with humectants. It is not simple to retool a commercial bulk TP supplier into a consumer TP supplier, they at least need some different inputs.
- topkai22 6y agoAll true, but I was surprised I never saw a guy selling bulk rolls of TP in the parking lot (or I guess never heard how to buy it on the internet via eBay). I'm sure it existed somewhere, but it wasn't prominent enough to supply my brother and his roommates when they ran out.