What is it with dried pasta and flour?

[ladymuck]

Right I'm off out to stockpile wood for the apocalypse! Cheers!

I'm going to print out the internet and burn that

[CheeseSlice]

Flour is one of the things the UK is self-sufficient of and we have no shortage of the raw materials.
I saw on the TV a week ago that the factories that package up the bags of flour for grocery stores are running 24/7 at full output. They also make huge sacks for wholesale that they can't easily switch to the smaller supermarket ones.
So its a packaging and automation problem, not a supply problem.

[Scoobos]

Hear you, but doesn't that mean its a supply problem, in that they cannot supply it - without packaging?

[CheeseSlice]

I agree, but if you were the UK government, you'd be saying there is 'plenty of food in the supply chain'.
Even when the shelves are bare.

They should really say there is no shortage of actual food, but that there a problems supplying it.

[DealorNoDeal]

Speaking to a local beef farmer today and he's struggling to get a decent price for his cattle.

The abattoirs are blaming it on supermarkets importing cheap Polish beef.

supermarkets beef poland - Google Search

[LondonManc]

I agree, but if you were the UK government, you'd be saying there is 'plenty of food in the supply chain'.
Even when the shelves are bare.

They should really say there is no shortage of actual food, but that there a problems supplying it SO DON'T STOCKPILE IT YOU BLOODY SELFISH IMBECILES!!!

FTFY

[d000hg]

I can understand people buying dried pasta and rice since they are so useful and form the backbone of many household menus with tinned/jar sauces.

But surely we're not a nation of bakers... has the flour gone to people who want it, or are people just buying it because it's in short supply "in case I want to make a cake"?

[jds 1981]

We use a bread machine regularly, as now eating at home every day making almost a loaf a day. I guess as flour never used to be that popular it wouldn't take many people having a few extra bags for it all to go. Thankfully had enough flour left to last until we found out where else to buy it from.

I think lots of people are new to it though as all the yeast is gone and it takes a long time to go through a full pack of that.

Something you've not mentioned are seeds. Loads of veg seeds in low supply

[d000hg]

Oh yeah, the online garden suppliers are getting hammered. We got in just in time, that seemed to be a week or two behind everything else.
Partly it is their busiest time of year anyway, and they are facing staff/operational issues even without extra demand.

It was interesting trying to think "what's the next thing to get panic-bought". Pasta and rice was the obvious thing after bog-roll, and tinned food generally. Then freezers... just missed out on that, we were looking at one and they all went out of stock that afternoon. I missed the boat on home-brewing, thinking people wouldn't think of that so quickly. Online wine buying went crazy but (I think) supermarkets have had no shortages there.

[mookiemoo]

I regularly make my own bread - now can't get the flour

Its not that we've turned into a nation of bakers.

Its that flour is a staple ingredient in play doh which the mummies stuck at home with their cherubs are making in order to entertain them!

There should be a sanity check at the checkouts - if you can't explain how to make bread you don't get to buy bread flour. (only half joking)