Short supply ...

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lancashire lass
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Short supply ...

Post by lancashire lass »

I have been replenishing my spice rack recently (and trying out new spices) Since getting back on my feet (literally LOL), I started shopping at the Aldi's again but I can't guarantee I'll always find what I want so it was no surprise to find no allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg or sage. Yesterday I popped into the Coop mini-supermarket down the road for a couple of things but I also found myself wandering down the aisle where all the herbs, spices and sauces are located ... there was a special offer on so naturally I decided to search for the elusive herbs and spices but again, the very ones I wanted were missing. I know Christmas is fast approaching but I was still surprised to find none of the ones I really wanted were on the shelves, so decided to google.

Seems there really is a global short supply of some herbs and spices for various reasons - Brexit, a European demand on certain herbs and a processing / packing issue for some spices.
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Spreckly
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Re: Short supply ...

Post by Spreckly »

Some of the shelves in my local Tesco have big empty areas.Have you tried Amazon?
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Mo
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Re: Short supply ...

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I was really annoyed on Sat. Live 10 miles from any big supermarket, so shop when passing. On Tues I detoured on the way home from choir to get Tesco cat food. Out of stock so bought small box of dearer brand to tide me over. Sat I went somewhere else so googled to see if any Ts would still be open on my way home. There was one with a tab to click to see what was in stock. I was rather surprised to see such a large range of cat-food in a T Extra, but I found the shop. Obviously, they had never stocked it, only room on the shelf for the items they had
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lancashire lass
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Re: Short supply ...

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Mo wrote: 08 Nov 2022, 13:21 I detoured on the way home from choir to get Tesco cat food. Out of stock so bought small box of dearer brand to tide me over
Back in September when I went to get Whiskas cat food, I was shocked by how much more expensive it had got (last year it was about £3.50p for a box of pouches to nearly £5 a box this year!) That's when I started shopping at Aldis and they had cat food @ £2.49p a box which I bought. At first, Lucas my cat turned his nose up but it was a case of starve or eat what you get ... the next day (it was a fresh pouch BTW) he cleaned the bowl. When I went the following week to get more, the shelves of their cat food were nearly empty. I realised also that the box I'd got was not the usual Aldi brand which was priced more expensive (but still less than £3 a box)
lancashire lass wrote: 07 Nov 2022, 12:12 I started shopping at the Aldi's again but I can't guarantee I'll always find what I want so it was no surprise to find no allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg or sage
Aldi must have read my DTL post because yesterday I finally got some allspice, cinnamon and sage )t' I also got some piri piri salt, Harissa spice and a big pot of black pepper, plus another bottle of the Stir Fry oil (sunflower oil, sesame oil, ginger oil and garlic extract) which is a good substitute for the fresh ginger I had been using in the Spicing up the cooking ... thread (the list of ingredients didn't include chilli like I thought but can easily be spiced up with fresh or dried flakes of chilli or chilli powder) I also got a small bottle of sesame seed oil. I'm not too bothered about the nutmeg.

With the rising cost of living, a lot of people are turning to cheaper alternatives which unfortunately I had been doing long before prices started going up. The downside is that those shelves are now becoming regularly empty - I used to get the frozen battered fish portions which was nearly a £1 cheaper than the cod or haddock portions but on Saturday the chiller unit was bare but for breaded cod portions and breaded fish fingers. Friday evening is traditionally my "fish & chip" supper but it has always been expensive from the chippy so have made do with my cheaper home battered fish portion & chip supper and yesterday ended up buying the fish fingers instead (even then, the cheaper "omega" ones rather than the cod fish fingers)

I did however, finally get my bottle of Asti Spumante for Christmas day - I've been keeping an eye out at the local supermarkets but I was beginning to think I'd have to make a trip to one of the bigger supermarkets (my shopping bill tends to get more expensive because (i) they are generally pricier (ii) they are bigger and have such a larger choice especially the things I can't get hold of locally (but not necessarily essential) that I end up popping more stuff in the trolley than I should) I only need to get some sausagemeat for the Christmas dinner (the alternate to pigs in blanket but I add chopped onion, chopped apple and a little bit of allspice and then make tennis ball sized balls which are popped around the turkey roast - not only for the Christmas day dinner, but great on their own cold and sliced in sandwiches, and the juices/fat that come out add flavour to the roast turkey juices for the gravy) but if I struggle to get any, I can always buy a pack of sausages and make my own. Hopefully the seasonal packs of sausagemeat will be appearing in the chiller units soon.
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Meanqueen
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Re: Short supply ...

Post by Meanqueen »

My preference for cat food is Home Bargains, even that has increased in price. Tesco too expensive. I go every 8 to 10 weeks and spend £100 + at a time. I buy the bigger boxes 40 pouches, sometimes 80 if they have any in stock. I now have two more cats, making the total 4. yike*

ilona
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Mo
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Re: Short supply ...

Post by Mo »

Tabitha has the cheap Tesco's biscuits + a small spoonful of tinned twice a day. To stop the tin going off I divide it into pouches to last a couple of days each, then pop them in the small freezer compartment of my fridge. Only get pouches if family are feeding her.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Short supply ...

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Autumn seems to be well on its way now so getting salad foods in are not on the top of my shopping, but I had noticed something this summer which I found unusual to be "in short supply". I am a bit fussy when it comes to some salad veg (I don't like raw onion / spring onion, ready cooked beetroot in vinegar or raw tomato) but can usually still make an enjoyable salad with whatever I can get hold of (lettuce, sweet pepper, cucumber, tinned sweetcorn, radish, cook some salad potatoes, tinned bake beans and so on)

At first I could never get hold of cucumber in Aldi until one day I happen to glance away from where the usual salad veg were displayed and found them in the middle aisle along with the fresh fruit ... not where I would have normally think of where to find cucumber. I also noticed no radish. After the cucumber confusion, I slowly walked down all the veg aisles in case they had been put in say, the root veg section but concluded that they didn't sell them which I found odd (especially as they sell fresh ginger and fresh chilli which I'd have thought were more specialised) I had gone to Asda during the mini heatwave earlier this month and again, no radish. Considering radish is an easy crop to grow (usually harvestable within a month of sowing and quite hardy so easily cope with the cooler and wetter weather we'd had), I am very surprised to find radish unavailable. Anyone else find a shortage of their favourite veg this year?
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lancashire lass
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Re: Short supply ...

Post by lancashire lass »

lancashire lass wrote: 27 Nov 2022, 12:35 With the rising cost of living, a lot of people are turning to cheaper alternatives which unfortunately I had been doing long before prices started going up. The downside is that those shelves are now becoming regularly empty - I used to get the frozen battered fish portions which was nearly a £1 cheaper than the cod or haddock portions but on Saturday the chiller unit was bare but for breaded cod portions and breaded fish fingers.
I discovered why the frozen battered fish portions were unavailable ... they had changed the packaging so I didn't see what I was looking for {rofwl} They are now classed as "essential" (that is, the cheap range) but are the exact same ones I used to buy before.

With reference to that same post (which included finding foods I'd normally purchase for my Christmas dinner / seasonal holiday), I was in Aldi yesterday and blown away to find ... shelves now displaying Christmas pudding and cake, sweets and so on normally sold later in the year. Last year I really liked their crackers (I do like to spoil myself with some lovely different cheese up to and over the holiday season) so I must keep an eye out to get them (depending on price) They proved to be very popular and had sold out (also their Chocolate and Hazelnut cream liqueur which I had really been looking forward to treating myself to and found their entire stock had sold out very quickly)
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