Impending, possible meat shortages

Costco gets a lot of things right by customers and employees. Their fresh meat is consistently higher quality than the chain grocery stores here. Prices are consistently excellent or at a minimum reasonable. Its nice not playing the game where the thing that is almost always on sale happens to not be on sale this week and has a 100% higher price.
I must be the only person who has never bought anything at a Costco or Sam's. I've only been to Costco a few times, when I went with someone else who was a member and wanted to go.
 
I must be the only person who has never bought anything at a Costco or Sam's. I've only been to Costco a few times, when I went with someone else who was a member and wanted to go.
My girlfriend’s parents have a membership and I’ve only gone with them. I just go for the free samples! Plus you can a good meal for cheap. 1/4 pound hot dog and soda for like $1.75. I’ve also never had the need to buy 10 pounds of mayonnaise at one time. Some of the bulk stuff makes sense and others do not. I’m 1 of 4 kids and even when we were all at home and my mom was shopping for 6 people, we’ve never had a Costco membership. She would just go shopping every week.
 
I must be the only person who has never bought anything at a Costco or Sam's. I've only been to Costco a few times, when I went with someone else who was a member and wanted to go.
Good prices on laser printer carts - I don't always have time to print at school. Savings on one cart almost covers the annual fee. About the only place I can get smoked salmon at a reasonable price.

And of course.....TP.

A few years ago (PBS or Discovery?) had a great segment on Costco. Membership fee and TP are the largest revenue streams
 
I stopped at my Sam's yesterday afternoon for meat. Will be firing up the smoker on Saturday and needed to load up.

Their meat section:

They had brisket. Not very many, and they were on the small side (10-12 lb vs 15-17 lb). It may be they had been picked over and these were all that were left. Normally, I'd ask one of the meat guys if they had a case or two they could break open for me to look through, but they looked too busy so I left them alone and got a nice 10 pounder.

They had plenty of pork butts. They also had been picked through, but there were still a lot to choose from. For years Sam's sold them as twin packs, then a year ago they started selling them as singles (all cryovac). Yesterday I noticed they were twin packed again, so I wonder if they changed suppliers. The butts were big (insert joke here). Normally I'm used to seeing 7-8 lb each, or about 15-16 lb per twin pack. Yesterday I got a 20 lb twin pack, that's about the largest I've ever seen. All the butts in the case were approx that size so either the normal sized packs had already sold or their supplier was butchering larger hogs.

They had lots of pork loins.

They had lots of beef roasts and steaks.

They did not have any ground beef, chickens or chicken parts.

Sounds like my most recent experience at Sam's (Kingston, NY). They had per-item limits, but they packaged more meat into every "item," and there were more "items" to choose from, than usual.

That strategy makes a lot of sense if their objective is to discourage hoarding as opposed to dealing with supply-chain problems. It means that even people who stop by in the afternoon will likely find meat. On the other hand, it probably annoyed people who only want to shop once every couple of months. Because of the variety and size of "items," they could still buy quite a bit of meat; but it might not be the cuts they would have preferred.

I suspect that Sam's Club being owned by Walmart gives them an advantage in terms of supply-chain redundancy.

Rich
 
Went to Costco Monday night, meat cases totally cleaned out. Not one package of chicken, beef, or pork to be found.

And that is the problem with Costco. They are often out of stuff (that I want) and you don't know until you get there and get in. Their whole model has been based on luring people in and enticing them to buy more stuff while they're there. It was tolerable when it was fairly quick in and out & you could get most of what you want. It's intolerable to wait 30 minutes in line them find out they don't have most of what you need. Hence, I haven't been since early March. And they have no idea when they're going to get stock delivered (fresh meat might be different because its regular shipments, but anything else in the warehouse? Fuggedaboutit. )

Even the Costco website now says that they don't have paper towels or toilet paper and won't have any until June (but you can try their stores just in case). Not worth my time to go to a store, wait in line, then find out they have none. Sams Club says they have it available for shipping but not store pickup. My local Harris Teeter has both in-stock but at a higher price than Costco.
 
And that is the problem with Costco. They are often out of stuff (that I want) and you don't know until you get there and get in. Their whole model has been based on luring people in and enticing them to buy more stuff while they're there. It was tolerable when it was fairly quick in and out & you could get most of what you want. It's intolerable to wait 30 minutes in line them find out they don't have most of what you need. Hence, I haven't been since early March. And they have no idea when they're going to get stock delivered (fresh meat might be different because its regular shipments, but anything else in the warehouse? Fuggedaboutit. )

Even the Costco website now says that they don't have paper towels or toilet paper and won't have any until June (but you can try their stores just in case). Not worth my time to go to a store, wait in line, then find out they have none. Sams Club says they have it available for shipping but not store pickup. My local Harris Teeter has both in-stock but at a higher price than Costco.

That's actually another thing I prefer about Sam's Club: Their Web site "knows" the club inventory. It also will search nearby clubs for an item if your preferred one is out of stock. It saves me from making an hour's drive each way to find they're out of stock on the thing I wanted to buy.

The exception is that very often, a given club may have a batch of some item that's not even listed on the site, presumably because it's a close-out item. I got some nice Coleman work shirts at the Vestal club that way, and some nice solar security lights at the Kingston club. I made the trips for other stuff and found the Easter eggs.

Sam's Club also provides free shipping to Plus members. Their online fulfillment is less-than-wonderful in terms of speed (or lack of same); but when something's not a rush, it can save quite a bit of money.

Rich
 
Costco gets a lot of things right by customers and employees. Their fresh meat is consistently higher quality than the chain grocery stores here. Prices are consistently excellent or at a minimum reasonable. Its nice not playing the game where the thing that is almost always on sale happens to not be on sale this week and has a 100% higher price.

I've been consistently impressed with our local Costcos' handling of things during the COVID-19 crisis. And the rest of the time, they have great prices on some things, good prices on the rest, and some items that are really good - For example, the chicken street taco kits are excellent.

Good prices on laser printer carts - I don't always have time to print at school. Savings on one cart almost covers the annual fee. About the only place I can get smoked salmon at a reasonable price.

And of course.....TP.

I also buy iTunes gift cards there all the time. You can get $100 worth of cards for either $94.49 or $84.49 depending on the week. I just wait for the lower price and buy some, put them on my own account, and have an instant 15% discount on all of the TV/movies my wife likes to buy, and all of the in-app purchases that I do.
 
I bought a 7.5# beef tenderloin for $9.99/# at Publix yesterday. Only problem is I have to waste most of it on my in-laws this Sunday (Mother's day).
 
I use Sam's for its pharmacy. Being a Plus member also gets lower co-pays.

One advantage of Costco over Sam's is that I've heard much better reviews on Costco hearing aids vs Sam's. Both clubs sell and service hearing aids, and both have store branded versions of name brand HAs, at considerably lower club prices. But I've heard better reviews of the Costco versions and service than Sam's.

Pretty much, for a single person, there may or may not be an advantage to being a member. But for families, especially large families, it's nice to stock up on larger quantity items. For small companies, getting bulk items can also save a few bucks and make it cost effective.
 
Pretty much, for a single person, there may or may not be an advantage to being a member.

When I was single, BJ's Wholesale Club ran a free trial membership every Oct, Nov, Dec. So I'd make an annual trip in around Thanksgiving, get a bale of TP, paper towels, tissues, a crate of batteries, and mass quantities of any other non-perishables I thought I might use in a year. Then I'd be done, until the next year when they offered a free trial membership, and I'd make my next annual visit. Worked out pretty well.

With the family, I use my Costco membership at least once a month. When I lived near both, I slightly preferred Sam's Club, but I no longer have one near me.
 
Just went to Publix and they have more meat than you can shake a stick at. No shortage there!
 
I was just at Publix, the meat selection was fine, but still no TP.

Probably because my wife is buying it all. She just came back with another (the 4th) bale, despite us deciding two bales ago that we didn't need any more. Her excuse this time was "Well, this is the brand we use, the others were not". I just counted and we have at least 178 rolls of TP in our house, not counting the partial rolls in use.
 
Costco makes the majority of their money off of the membership fees, not sales.

And that is the problem with Costco. They are often out of stuff (that I want) and you don't know until you get there and get in. Their whole model has been based on luring people in and enticing them to buy more stuff while they're there.
 
They have limits here, 2 packages of each type of meat they have, 2 beef, 2 chicken, 2 pork. About half the coolers that are normal stocked with meat are now turned off and curtained. This is a taste of what could happen it...…. oh never mind.
 
Pretty much, for a single person, there may or may not be an advantage to being a member. But for families, especially large families, it's nice to stock up on larger quantity items. For small companies, getting bulk items can also save a few bucks and make it cost effective.
Yup, I never thought it made any sense for me. I'm not someone who stocks up on things. Besides, both in Colorado, and in San Francisco, neither of those clubs are nearby. When I first moved to the city, I missed the big suburban grocery and big box stores so I drove to the 'burbs. But around here, they are much more crowded than the 'burbs where I lived in Colorado. The smaller city groceries are actually more mellow.
 
Probably because my wife is buying it all. She just came back with another (the 4th) bale, despite us deciding two bales ago that we didn't need any more. Her excuse this time was "Well, this is the brand we use, the others were not". I just counted and we have at least 178 rolls of TP in our house, not counting the partial rolls in use.

As my daughter would say, "That's crazy, dog!" Please do let her know she's making life difficult for someone else.
 
This is what I think of every time someone says anything about a bale of TP.
wrapped-bales.jpg
 
I save enough on car gas at Sam's And Costco to pay for my memberships.

One of a number of weird NJ laws around gasoline sales (along with the idiotic prohibition against self-serve) is that Costco in NJ cannot require a membership to buy gas. Anyone can buy gas at Costco here.
 
Probably because my wife is buying it all. She just came back with another (the 4th) bale, despite us deciding two bales ago that we didn't need any more. Her excuse this time was "Well, this is the brand we use, the others were not". I just counted and we have at least 178 rolls of TP in our house, not counting the partial rolls in use.

178 rolls?! :eek: That would last us years.

Hopefully you don't have one of those neighbors that will turn you in for hoarding. You know those that call in people playing together in a park, only for the police to find out it's one family that lives in the same house. :rolleyes:
 
I save enough on car gas at Sam's And Costco to pay for my memberships.

Same here. We're paying $1.259/gallon for gas at Costco. It just recently went down to $1.699 at nearby gas stations. When we last filled the tank the other gas stations were $1.759 / gallon and up.
 
178 rolls?! :eek: That would last us years.

Hopefully you don't have one of those neighbors that will turn you in for hoarding. You know those that call in people playing together in a park, only for the police to find out it's one family that lives in the same house. :rolleyes:
I have just about that number as well... and it has nothing to do with the pandemic. The nearest Costco is over 50 miles away, so for the last 5 years I've been buying one or two bales every time I go. It has gradually built up, since I don't use THAT much. I haven't bought any at all this year.
 
The local organic market was well stocked with meat today. Of course, it's about 50% more than other stores.
 
Would it be weird to say that due to the pandemic we had to buy a different TP brand for the first time in I don’t know how many years, probably over ten, because we are boring creatures of habit...

... and we like the new brand way better? LOL.

Both of our butts think every cloud has a silver lining now. Ha.

This stuff is probably worse for the septic system so I bumped the pump date reminder up quite a way in the calendar so the pro pumper man can asses and recommend whether to keep the accelerated schedule. He said we could have gone a while longer last time but he’s a lot cheaper than a leech field repair.

Anybody uses the pandemic as their excuse to install a really fancy bidet that didn’t already have one? Hah. We’ve toyed with the idea since the bathrooms need a remodel. Get some crazy things from Japan that have more modes than our dishwasher or washing machine. Hahaha.

Technically very well suited to septic systems. :) Pumping is so cheap it would take a decade to pay themselves back though unless we went for the seriously cheap redneck model bidets. Haha.
 
A couple days ago Sam's was limiting fresh meat purchases to one per customer; let the panic begin.

Unless they changed it since Sunday, it was one per item. There was no limit on the number of items, and they were bigger than usual.

Rich
 
The DesMoines Register is reporting the number of covid positives jumped from 500 to 1000 the day after the WaterlooTyson plant reopened. nobody positive can come to work. That's a third of the work force.

At least they're testing.
 
Someone listed the top counties in the US for COVID cases. A neighbor pointed out Wilkes County NC made the list which is pretty rural (it's big claim to fame was it was the origin of the Lowe's hardware store chain). I guessed that there was a factory which was the hotspot there. Turns out I was right, it was another Tyson's plant.

I still got some pig left over from last years pig roast. I figure if I need to I can go down to my local pig processor (a little Vietnamese family down the road) and get another one, even though we're not doing the party this year. I've got a 1/8 of a cow coming from a specialty producer who normally sells to restaurants but that market has dried up. I think Margy ordered a lamb under similar circumstances.

Still was able to score a big package of chicken lumps at Costco the other day. They're in the deep freeze.
 
The DesMoines Register is reporting the number of covid positives jumped from 500 to 1000 the day after the WaterlooTyson plant reopened. nobody positive can come to work. That's a third of the work force.

At least they're testing.

If it's a third of the workforce, is there any reason to believe it's not a third of the population?
 
If it's a third of the workforce, is there any reason to believe it's not a third of the population?
Not directly correlated. I don't have the article handy, but given the lower pay of meat cutting, most workers are in multi-family/generational houses, plus commuting together. So, the workers will be hit hard as the work is in close proximity, but the general population only as much they intersect with the workers. In other words, depends on what other industries are in town.
 
If it's a third of the workforce, is there any reason to believe it's not a third of the population?

In Waterloo? Statewide the testing so far has come back 1 out of every 5 is positive, so it would seem this plant has a higher concentration of positives. No idea what the overall testing rate is in Iowa.

But my point is what do you do about production when one of three of your workers is positive but asymptomatic and can't come to work? Do you pay them? Are they eligible for unemployment if the plant is essential? Do you allow them to work anyway on segregated lines?
 
In Waterloo? Statewide the testing so far has come back 1 out of every 5 is positive, so it would seem this plant has a higher concentration of positives. No idea what the overall testing rate is in Iowa.
Not only that, but in Iowa they are prioritizing those that currently have symptoms, have interacted with someone who has already tested positive, or have recently visited places where COVID-19 is more widespread. That would nudge the positivity rate higher than actual overall population.
 
Not only that, but in Iowa they are prioritizing those that currently have symptoms, have interacted with someone who has already tested positive, or have recently visited places where COVID-19 is more widespread. That would nudge the positivity rate higher than actual overall population.

It’s a massive engineering undertaking and logistics undertaking to test 320M. Six months minimum I figure. More likely.

I keep laughing at the privileged people sitting on their couches who keep saying they want no changes until widespread testing is accomplished.

Ok. Sit there until August or September if you please. Whole lot of folks won’t be able to.

And in the meantime the numbers will be inflated toward the early deaths of weaker folk and the testing of only the symptomatic, so that’ll drive the couch sitters to apoplectic levels of more fear...

Stupid scenario clearly eats on itself. The virus getting into all the supply chains and just getting to everybody actually, in a strange way, helps.

When the USPS has now stopped some of our deliveries here... it’s coming.

Of course sadly more symptomatic people who don’t die overall would speed things up also.

That there’s tons in these plants and warehouses that have been tested without symptoms should be a sign of something... same with the prisons that have come down with it.

But widespread testing before fall is a total pipe dream without some amazing heroics. Certainly not inexpensively and accurately.

Even then, you’ll get the next strain after you’ve had this one. Haha.

We aren’t pivoting well to the long game on this. But it’ll pivot us anyway.
 
It’s a massive engineering undertaking and logistics undertaking to test 320M. Six months minimum I figure. More likely.

I keep laughing at the privileged people sitting on their couches who keep saying they want no changes until widespread testing is accomplished.

Ok. Sit there until August or September if you please. Whole lot of folks won’t be able to.

And in the meantime the numbers will be inflated toward the early deaths of weaker folk and the testing of only the symptomatic, so that’ll drive the couch sitters to apoplectic levels of more fear...

Stupid scenario clearly eats on itself. The virus getting into all the supply chains and just getting to everybody actually, in a strange way, helps.

When the USPS has now stopped some of our deliveries here... it’s coming.

Of course sadly more symptomatic people who don’t die overall would speed things up also.

That there’s tons in these plants and warehouses that have been tested without symptoms should be a sign of something... same with the prisons that have come down with it.

But widespread testing before fall is a total pipe dream without some amazing heroics. Certainly not inexpensively and accurately.

Even then, you’ll get the next strain after you’ve had this one. Haha.

We aren’t pivoting well to the long game on this. But it’ll pivot us anyway.

Anonymous, at-home testing would help. Get a test with a control number; spit in a cup, swab the snot out of your nose, prick your finger (but not vice-versa), or otherwise collect the required sample; mail it to the lab; and check the results by number over the Interwebs.

The reason I think this would help is that certain unnamed idiot politicians and bureaucrats made speeches that made precautionary quarantines sound like Gestapo raids. Yes, they walked them back, but I think the damage was done. I suspect there are a lot of people who would rather be tested anonymously as a result.

I remember that anonymous HIV tests used to be available. They weren't the preferred option, but they were available for those who insisted. They may still be, for all I know.

The down side of anonymous testing is that there's no guarantee that asymptomatic carriers will do the right thing. Big Brother doesn't have a high degree of confidence in individual responsibility. My feeling, on the other hand, is that at least some -- maybe most -- people would do the right thing. If that weren't their intention, then why would they bother being tested?

So I'd rather roll the dice, hope for the best, and let privacy absolutists be tested anonymously if they insist on it. It's better than their not be tested at all.

For my part, I couldn't care less about being tested on the record. But I live alone and work at home. Quarantine, for me, would mean asking my neighbor across the street to check my PO box for me and tuck any mail under my car's windshield wiper. For a family person who envisions brown-shirts tearing them away from their crying children and dragging them to a quarantine camp reminiscent of Auschwitz as a consequence of a positive test, however, I can understand the reluctance.

So let them be tested anonymously, if they like, and hope they do the right thing. Some won't, but many will; and it's better than not testing them at all.

But I'm a pragmatist. That's not a very popular thing in a world of extremes.

Rich
 
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Anonymous, at-home testing would help. Get a test with a control number; spit in a cup, swab the snot out of your nose, prick your finger (but not vice-versa), or otherwise collect the required sample; mail it to the lab; and check the results by number over the Interwebs.

The reason I think this would help is that certain unnamed idiot politicians and bureaucrats made speeches that made precautionary quarantines sound like Gestapo raids. Yes, they walked them back, but I think the damage was done. I suspect there are a lot of people who would rather be tested anonymously as a result.

I remember that anonymous HIV tests used to be available. They weren't the preferred option, but they were available for those who insisted. They may still be, for all I know.

The down side is of anonymous testing is that there's no guarantee that asymptomatic carriers will do the right thing. Big Brother doesn't have a high degree of confidence in individual responsibility. My feeling, on the other hand, is that at least some -- maybe most -- people would do the right thing. If that weren't their intention, then why would they bother being tested?

So I'd rather roll the dice, hope for the best, and let privacy absolutists be tested anonymously if they insist on it. It's better than their not be tested at all.

For my part, I couldn't care less about being tested on the record. But I live alone and work at home. Quarantine, for me, would mean asking my neighbor across the street to check my PO box for me and tuck any mail under my car's windshield wiper. For a family person who envisions brown-shirts tearing them away from their crying children and dragging them to a quarantine camp reminiscent of Auschwitz as a consequence of a positive test, however, I can understand the reluctance.

So let them be tested anonymously, if they like, and hope they do the right thing. Some won't, but many will; and it's better than not testing them at all.

But I'm a pragmatist. That's not a very popular thing in a world of extremes.

Rich

My SIL is a doc down in RIC. Apparently those nasal swabs are no joke. She says it like they're trying to poke you in the eye by going through your nose. Getting it once a week is starting to get real old.
 
My SIL is a doc down in RIC. Apparently those nasal swabs are no joke. She says it like they're trying to poke you in the eye by going through your nose. Getting it once a week is starting to get real old.

They have a newer one that doesn't require a jackhammer. You just swab the part of your nostril your finger would fit into. Kind of like picking your nose, but with cotton on a stick.

EDIT: Which kind of makes me wonder why they bother with the swab at all. Just blow your nose into a Kleenex and mail it in.

Rich
 
Since Margy is in the potentially vulnerable category, I have been doing all the shopping and other errands. I've also been regularly checking my temperature and o2 sats. We've got an isolation plan set up if I end up showing any symptoms.

The most reclusive guy in my neighborhood got COVID. His father died and he ended up travelling through ATL. I'm betting that he picked it up either on one of the flights or in the airport.
 
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