Panic buying

When not on Maternity leave I am a food buyer for a large company. I know where suppliers are located, I know where product comes from. Experience tell me food prices will increase or product will be depleted especially fresh Veg and Fruit. Alot of our local suppliers went under. Completely flooded.

So I headed to the shops today. I knew there wasn't going to be alot available. Everyone has already started panic buying. As silly as it seems its the smartest thing these people have done. Its going to be a few weeks until the stores will be able to restocked. The food that the stores have now is what is in their on site warehouses. There is large warehouses in Brisbane to draw from but I am not sure if the roads are clear. I wasn't going to take any chances.


My plan was to be able to get as much food as I could to try and cover a full fortnight. I was very lucky, I was able to get the last two loaves of bread. There was absolutely no fresh fruit or veg. And frozen veg was limited. I got what I could. I wasn't able to get fresh meat or poultry due what I wanted not being available. There was not a great deal to choose from. We have some already in the freezer. Hopefully it will get us through. I feel confident that we will be fine.  My biggest worry is that I wont be able to feed my babies. Full fridge and pantry = a happy mama!


Food will be able to be delivered from interstate. The grocery side of things I believe will be fine in weeks to come,and pricing should NOT be affected. It will be the fresh fruit and veg that is my main concern. 


The main fresh veg and fruit market was underwater. This site provides fruit and veg to all of Queensland. It is the hub, where farmers send their produce and where buyers/suppliers buy their produce from.  It will take weeks for the market to be up and running again. 


The next concern is supply. With 75% of Queensland being affected by floods, this means that alot of farmers crops have been affected. Which means Nil supply. We are lucky that with Australia's climate we are able to grow all sorts of produce around the country. I believe we will get supply of product... just at what cost? I have already heard on the grapevine (pardon the pun) that product will increase by 50%!!! And that is if product is available. 


Meat and poultry pricing will soar. Abattoirs were flooded, cattle have not survived. Abattoirs had already been shut down due to the high Aussie dollar as export levels decreased. We will be heavily relying on instate product. If you have a deep freeze my advice would be to get what you can now. 


It will be interesting how all this will unravel. I am just glad I am on Maternity leave during this time as my job would of been a living nightmare!


Here is some photos I took whilst shopping.

This is usually stocked with LOTS of fruit and vegetables

This is where the water is usually stocked