2021 Supply Disruptions

[kalvado]

Anyone else noticed a lot of bare shelves in the candy departments at various stores?

Not sure if this is related, by chocolate shortages started before covid pandemic - because of cocoa tree pandemic. Actually there are several different ones, I believe.
https://time.com/5671166/ghana-cocoa-trees-swollen-shoot-disease/
And while we're at this - enjoy a banana while you can, those are at a very high disease risk as well

[Bruce]

What the heck is going on with Delta?! They said everything is expected to be back to normal after next month

The willingly unvaccinated are screwing it up for the rest of us.

Delta is more contagious than previous COVID variants and will still send the unvaccinated to hospitals, where they clog up ICU capacity and cause massive strain on all systems. Thus, events have to go back to last year's limits and restrictions.

We were so damn close. We weren't aggressive enough, didn't dole out actual vaccine mandates until too late, and didn't contain the spread when we could.

[hotdogPi]

If you're looking at today's numbers on the New York Times website and wondering what's going on, they're inaccurate. It's a seven-day moving average, nothing was reported on Labor Day in many states. and there's a one-day delay. This means that for those that also don't report on weekends there are 11 days (Saturday before Labor Day to yesterday) in today's 7-day average totals.

[kalvado]

What the heck is going on with Delta?! They said everything is expected to be back to normal after next month

The willingly unvaccinated are screwing it up for the rest of us.

Delta is more contagious than previous COVID variants and will still send the unvaccinated to hospitals, where they clog up ICU capacity and cause massive strain on all systems. Thus, events have to go back to last year's limits and restrictions.

We were so damn close. We weren't aggressive enough, didn't dole out actual vaccine mandates until too late, and didn't contain the spread when we could.

We were nowhere near any success. This virus will not be contained within foreseeable future, mandates or not. Most realistic - and actually best case - scenario is virus downgrading to a common cold level in a few years.

[CoreySamson]

What the heck is going on with Delta?! They said everything is expected to be back to normal after next month

The willingly unvaccinated are screwing it up for the rest of us.

Delta is more contagious than previous COVID variants and will still send the unvaccinated to hospitals, where they clog up ICU capacity and cause massive strain on all systems. Thus, events have to go back to last year's limits and restrictions.

We were so damn close. We weren't aggressive enough, didn't dole out actual vaccine mandates until too late, and didn't contain the spread when we could.

We were nowhere near any success. This virus will not be contained within foreseeable future, mandates or not. Most realistic - and actually best case - scenario is virus downgrading to a common cold level in a few years.

Also, I don't want to turn this into the Covid thread, but Delta was first discovered in India, not the US. Mu was found in Colombia. Alpha was in the UK. Beta was in South Africa. Vaccinating every American would help in the short-term against these variants, but as long as other countries don't have many vaccinated, new variants are going to spread into the US. My point is maybe we should be trying to give the rest of the world vaccines in order to benefit everyone.

[NJRoadfan]

Well I managed to catch the Snapple guy restocking the shelves at the local Shop-Rite, so I have my Snapple fix for awhile. As for Dr Pepper it was on sale this week (bottled by Coke here) and there was plenty in stock.

[abefroman329]

If the transporters quit working, we're all in trouble.

Send a shuttlecraft.

Oh, bravo.

[LilianaUwU]

One of the (arguably non-essential) supply disruptions I've experienced is Dr Pepper. I absolutely love me some Dr Pepper, but I sometimes have to go up to a few months without it.

No trouble finding it here in Arizona.

Is Dr. Pepper in your area distributed by Coke, Pepsi, or some other bottler?  Here in Arizona the canned/bottled version is distributed by Coke, while both Coke and Pepsi distribute the fountain syrup.

In Canada, I believe it's distributed exclusively by Pepsi. It's not horribly hard to find if you dig deep enough, but supply is lower than demand (and to be fair, I drink a lot of it).

[vdeane]

Looks like the grocery shortages are getting worse.  No applesauce cups or Devour Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese when I was there.  I also got the last thing of store brand extra large eggs (thankfully, no cracked eggs) and my disposable razors; those were out after I left, obviously.  I wish we could have normalcy in grocery shopping again.

One of the (arguably non-essential) supply disruptions I've experienced is Dr Pepper. I absolutely love me some Dr Pepper, but I sometimes have to go up to a few months without it.

No trouble finding it here in Arizona.

Is Dr. Pepper in your area distributed by Coke, Pepsi, or some other bottler?  Here in Arizona the canned/bottled version is distributed by Coke, while both Coke and Pepsi distribute the fountain syrup.

In Canada, I believe it's distributed exclusively by Pepsi. It's not horribly hard to find if you dig deep enough, but supply is lower than demand (and to be fair, I drink a lot of it).

They mentioned the aluminium shortage again on the news today.  That might play a part of it.

[LilianaUwU]

One of the (arguably non-essential) supply disruptions I've experienced is Dr Pepper. I absolutely love me some Dr Pepper, but I sometimes have to go up to a few months without it.

No trouble finding it here in Arizona.

Is Dr. Pepper in your area distributed by Coke, Pepsi, or some other bottler?  Here in Arizona the canned/bottled version is distributed by Coke, while both Coke and Pepsi distribute the fountain syrup.

In Canada, I believe it's distributed exclusively by Pepsi. It's not horribly hard to find if you dig deep enough, but supply is lower than demand (and to be fair, I drink a lot of it).

They mentioned the aluminium shortage again on the news today.  That might play a part of it.

Huh, I guess that might be why. Speaking of aluminium shortage, I'm assuming it might affect road signs too?

[abefroman329]

Looks like the grocery shortages are getting worse.  No applesauce cups or Devour Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese when I was there.  I also got the last thing of store brand extra large eggs (thankfully, no cracked eggs) and my disposable razors; those were out after I left, obviously.  I wish we could have normalcy in grocery shopping again.

One of the (arguably non-essential) supply disruptions I've experienced is Dr Pepper. I absolutely love me some Dr Pepper, but I sometimes have to go up to a few months without it.

No trouble finding it here in Arizona.

Is Dr. Pepper in your area distributed by Coke, Pepsi, or some other bottler?  Here in Arizona the canned/bottled version is distributed by Coke, while both Coke and Pepsi distribute the fountain syrup.

In Canada, I believe it's distributed exclusively by Pepsi. It's not horribly hard to find if you dig deep enough, but supply is lower than demand (and to be fair, I drink a lot of it).

They mentioned the aluminium shortage again on the news today.  That might play a part of it.

I wonder if that's why all the stores I checked today were out of Liquid Death [drinking water that comes in tallboys].

[hbelkins]

Huh, I guess that might be why. Speaking of aluminium shortage, I'm assuming it might affect road signs too?

For a few years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kentucky experimented with fiberglass or plastic signs. They were identifiable by having black backgrounds instead of metallic ones. There are a few of them still in use today, but their numbers are dwindling.

It's a bit surprising that alternate sign materials haven't come into wide use. Wood is rarely used these days, as best as I can tell.

[abefroman329]

Are there materials to be used for road signs that are as durable as aluminum and are cheaper in the long run?

[Duke87]

Looks like the grocery shortages are getting worse.

What they aren't is consistent, with varying items suffering availability lapses in varying places. I have not, for example, noticed bare shelves in the candy aisle or of paper products around here.

I have noticed Eggo mini-pancakes have been rarely available since early this year though. And currently, the particular variety of wet cat food we usually have delivered from Amazon every month is "temporarily unavailable". This prompted me to walk to CVS to pick something up to cover the delay. Once there, I noted that CVS' shelf of cat food was also rather on the sparse side.

The lack of consistency in what and where is lacking is, as far as I can figure, because for the most part there isn't really a physical shortage of the products in question. What there is is a shortage of truck drivers causing shipments of everything to get sporadically delayed, and it's somewhat luck of the draw what is delayed locally where you live.

Rumors of a number of logistics companies (shippers) walking out if Biden's 100-plus-employee shot mandate is put into effect.

If the transporters quit working, we're all in trouble.

Quitting?  Pfft.  Demand is too high.  Those who are willing to be vaccinated will take their place.

Those with CDLs and those willing to cross a picket line in defiance of a union work stoppage.

More the issue may be if every company with 100 or more employees has a mandate, finding a different job may be challenging, and people do still have families to feed.

But yes, one way that pushing a mandate through employment could certainly backfire is by exacerbating an already tough labor shortage.

[webny99]

Looks like the grocery shortages are getting worse.

...

The lack of consistency in what and where is lacking is, as far as I can figure, because for the most part there isn't really a physical shortage of the products in question. What there is is a shortage of truck drivers causing shipments of everything to get sporadically delayed, and it's somewhat luck of the draw what is delayed locally where you live.

International freight costs have gotten bizarre since mid-late last year and have only been getting worse. There's a massive container shortage because of the China shutdowns, with bidding wars for available containers. I'd imagine this could be affecting the food processing industry just as it affects almost every other industry, as all it takes is one thing sourced internationally to inevitably hold things up.

[Bruce]

Looks like the grocery shortages are getting worse.

...

The lack of consistency in what and where is lacking is, as far as I can figure, because for the most part there isn't really a physical shortage of the products in question. What there is is a shortage of truck drivers causing shipments of everything to get sporadically delayed, and it's somewhat luck of the draw what is delayed locally where you live.

International freight costs have gotten bizarre since mid-late last year and have only been getting worse. There's a massive container shortage because of the China shutdowns, with bidding wars for available containers. I'd imagine this could be affecting the food processing industry just as it affects almost every other industry, as all it takes is one thing sourced internationally to inevitably hold things up.

Only a few years ago, there was a massive surplus stock of containers leftover from the Hanjin bankruptcy. Saw quite a few of them pop up in random backwoods for use as land storage.

Too bad they can't be reactivated for cargo service.

[hbelkins]

Noted from my visit to both Dollar General stores in my community today: A distinct presence of bare shelves in the laundry section. Detergent, fabric softener, scent crystals, and dryer sheets were all in short supply.

[NJRoadfan]

Only a few years ago, there was a massive surplus stock of containers leftover from the Hanjin bankruptcy. Saw quite a few of them pop up in random backwoods for use as land storage.

Too bad they can't be reactivated for cargo service.

There are piles of empty shipping containers sitting at ports all across the country (it generally isn't cost effective to ship empty ones back to China). Pretty sure the shortage is physical room on the ships and not the actual containers.

[Bruce]

The UK has yet another crisis: lack of CO2 for food industries.

https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-58626935

[hotdogPi]

The UK has yet another crisis: lack of CO2 for food industries.

https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-58626935

Surprised this isn't one of the answered questions in the article:
"If there's extra CO2 in the atmosphere, why is there a shortage? Can't we just use that?"

[Scott5114]

The UK has yet another crisis: lack of CO2 for food industries.

https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-58626935

Surprised this isn't one of the answered questions in the article:
"If there's extra CO2 in the atmosphere, why is there a shortage? Can't we just use that?"

They actually recently opened an atmospheric CO₂ capture facility in Iceland, but it is designed to sequester the carbon underground rather than package it for consumption.

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/worlds-largest-plant-capturing-carbon-air-starts-iceland-2021-09-08/

Competing with the food industry for CO₂ is the cannabis industry–some growers pump CO₂ into their grow rooms since they believe it will make the plants healthier (since plants breathe in CO₂ instead of O₂ like animals). In my experience, the effect is negligible at best.

[abefroman329]

Thank fuck there haven't been any shortages in the cannabis industry.

[Scott5114]

Thank fuck there haven't been any shortages in the cannabis industry.

We're actually rapidly approaching market saturation in Oklahoma, thought that might be slowed when and if Metrc is ever actually implemented (prevailing theory is that will force out a lot of the small-time growers who are just doing it on the side and don't have the patience to deal with the regulatory overhead). Also, during the pandemic, the whole industry was declared essential (since we have medical here) by the Oklahoma government, so there weren't any sorts of shutdowns here.

[kalvado]

The UK has yet another crisis: lack of CO2 for food industries.

https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-58626935

Surprised this isn't one of the answered questions in the article:
"If there's extra CO2 in the atmosphere, why is there a shortage? Can't we just use that?"

They actually recently opened an atmospheric CO₂ capture facility in Iceland, but it is designed to sequester the carbon underground rather than package it for consumption.

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/worlds-largest-plant-capturing-carbon-air-starts-iceland-2021-09-08/

Competing with the food industry for CO₂ is the cannabis industry–some growers pump CO₂ into their grow rooms since they believe it will make the plants healthier (since plants breathe in CO₂ instead of O₂ like animals). In my experience, the effect is negligible at best.

It is also about "food grade" designation. Atmospheric captured gas would have uncontrollable contamination,  I would be concerned about H2S and N2O
FOod grade comes, for example, from fermenting stuff for ethanol production - where original plants are food-grade by default.   
As for adding CO2... Depends on ventilation system a lot. And is cannabis C3 or C4?

[Scott5114]

As for adding CO2... Depends on ventilation system a lot. And is cannabis C3 or C4?

It's C3. While I'm sure that the increased CO₂ levels do help, of course, the question in commercial farming is whether the income from the increased yield is greater than the spend. That's what I'm skeptical about, especially since there are so many other factors that affect yield that are cheaper to control.