The article What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage says
Around the world, in countries afflicted with the coronavirus, stores are sold out of toilet paper. There have been shortages in Hong Kong, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. And we all know who to blame: hoarders and panic-buyers.
Well, not so fast.
There’s another, entirely logical explanation for why stores have run out of toilet paper…. the toilet paper industry is split into two, largely separate markets: commercial and consumer. The pandemic has shifted the lion’s share of demand to the latter.
It’s an interesting idea, and an interesting article.
April 15, 2020
that’s the same reason that “plain flour” isn’t on the shelves here in New Zealand…
At first people who couldn’t get and it didn’t reappear believed that NZ had no wheat or imported it..
but it had everything to do with our main manufacturer and who their “normal service” end users are
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/120694953/coronavirus-where-has-all-the-flour-gone
Thanks! Here it’s sad that farmers are destroying a lot of fresh food because restaurants are closing and they can’t switch fast enough to keep the food from spoiling: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/business/coronavirus-destroying-food.html
as I look through news on “mysteries” and “what now?”
many exporters of things like “tulip bulbs”, https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/120704172/coronavirus-no-export-for-150-million-tulip-bulbs
the flower market that would be high end plants/flowers. I’ve noted that garden centres who are not essential services, rely on the producers…
of course, there are also 100s of businesses who may only employ a few people who are being crippled. If you can’t find a way to be a contactless seller, you’ve stuffed!
As for getting your brand/line into a supermarket NOW probably won’t work either, too many hoops to jump through…
I’m finding that this “other side” of the actual virus – most interesting. The TP and our flour fiasco but the scale of the destruction this is causing to our “taken for granted way of life”
I was reading about how the poor in what is deemed “normal service/before” will be really badly off. But then I thought “it will be the next grouping up the food chain” and particularly those who now appear to have absolutely no money to pay their way…the idea of 80/20$ of your salary be it weekly, fortnightly or monthly…what have the majority been doing with the 20% saving for a rainy day!
Yes, I’m semi privileged I have a gov’t old age pension…and I cope quite well on it. Even now when I’ve had to buy in food at a bit higher rate than I mightn’t normally do.
Interesting times…if you can put aside the reason that this is occurring…
It’s heartbreaking. 🙁
oh my gosh. what a mess.
🙁 xo
Yes. 🙁
It doesn’t sound like there will be a solution for the toilet paper shortage until most people get back to work.
If the present situation were for years it might be worth changing things, but presumably when they start lifting some of the restrictions they would have to change back. That’s a lot of money and effort for a low-margin item.
My daughter and I were talking about how she uses hardly any TP, because she is/was at work so much of the time. And thought I haven’t talked to her again about it, I know that now she is home part of the week that she uses more. I mean when you are gone to work 10-12 hrs a day…5 days a week…a lot of your time at home is spent sleeping.
That’s precisely the problem. I would never have thought of it.
Mom saw that theory a week or so ago, and it does make sense. But seriously they can’t need THAT much!!! Some of the restaurants around here are selling their commercial stock:) Glad we pups don’t need to use tp.
Woos, Lightning and Timber
I’ve read that some restaurants will give (sell?) rolls to people who order take out. And one Girl Scout group gave away a roll of TP to everyone who ordered five boxes of cookies. 😀
what Rose said is what I think about the reason there are no canned goods on the shelves at Walmart. it has been empty for 4 weeks, at first I thought hoarders, but then it occurred to me that the work force is now at home and not eating out or bringing home or eating at work. there are only so many canned goods and more people are home cooking. this thing is a horro and will extend into the next 2 years. we will not be back to normal maybe never
Our store still has some canned goods, and some of the shelves that were empty for a while have some things on them. If this situation lasted forever it would pay the manufacturers to switch their markets and how they package their products. But if it lasts for only a few months it would be a waste of time and money because they would have to switch back. It’s a complicated system and change isn’t easy.
That makes sense for the shortage. I still can’t figure out why people were buying it in mass quantaties from the beginning though.
Maybe it gave them some sense of control and comfort? TP lasts forever.
Jean, it’s not like GI symptoms are a big part of the virus! People just went mad over the TP. I saw videos of people in stores grabbing it from other people and getting into fights over it. I think perhaps people are settling down a bit now and shopping more normally. I am ever hopeful! (PS I’m doing a great giveaway this week to cheer people up.)
The mystery isn’t why they bought so much in the beginning, the question is now that things have settled down why are the shelves still empty. My sister managed to buy some yesterday, but our store is still completely out of TP and paper towels.
But why can’t I find baker’s yeast? Is EVERYONE baking bread?
I have no idea. Maybe because baking is comforting and they have the time now? I haven’t baked in years.
I’ve thought it might be possible people accumulated more food, TP, not only because they’d need more since they would all be home all the time, but because they didn’t want to have to go out to stores, or be there for very long. Also, when it’s an unknown future situation I think human nature would have people thinking of wanting to possess the basics to survive— shelter, clothing (they likely had both), and food — not food in some store they’d have to retrieve from elsewhere — but food in their immediate grasp. Or, thinking for some might be, what if I get sick, our whole family does, we get quarantined in our house — we better have food and supplies on hand. Obviously, some have other less justifiable motives.
Early on we were warned we needed enough food to last us a month. I gradually bought ours before the rush, then a lot of other people heard the warning and acted on it. Then the official word changed to buy only what you need for the next week. That, of course, didn’t take into consideration that if you got sick you couldn’t leave your house for at least two weeks. Or that the supply chain might get disrupted. Maybe there was some panic buying, but some of it was common sense.
How are you Jean?
I hope you are fine after USA become epicenter of corona pandemic.
We’re doing fine. Are you affected by the virus and restrictions?