Shortages and disappearing goods

[jblaze5779]

Is the mayo aisle still full? Nothing like 500 identical bags of mayo. All the different items in jumbo would fit in small town foodmart in the states.

 

[Fiscal]

It's just so laughabl, yet predictable, that the trucking cronies can just unilaterally block the highways and nothing happens.

 

[Fiscal]

How long before Argentina runs low in medical supplies, vaccinations and medicine?

 

[Rich One]

Not to worry... Guzman negotiating forever with the Bonistas , always chisel for a one dollar difference and procrastinate and kick the Ball forwards for no reason .. Argentina will Never Pay ..

 

[Renzi]

Is the mayo aisle still full? Nothing like 500 identical bags of mayo. All the different items in jumbo would fit in small town foodmart in the states.

To be fair, small-town people generally don't need as many options for mayo as the average American urban Whole Foods shopper who has fifty types of allergies or luxurious dietary and ethical requirements like Paleo/Keto-friendly, low-carb, vegan, etc.

 

[jblaze5779]

To be fair, small-town people generally don't need as many options for mayo as the average American urban Whole Foods shopper who has fifty types of allergies or luxurious dietary and ethical requirements like Paleo/Keto-friendly, low-carb, vegan, etc.

Actually didn't know vegan mayo existed until I moved here.

 

[cafeamericano]

I didn't realize things were getting so bad here.

I didn't realize things were getting so bad here.

I got hot and spicy doritos delivered last night by Glovo. Honestly in the 2.5 years I've been here I've seen all of my favorite imported products run out randomly. English Cheddar was in the store for 3 months and then dissapeared for awhile came back and dissapeared again. I'm not sure shortages are that closely related to the pandemic. When I go to the grocery store I always have 2-3 recipes in mind because you never know what will have run out. I remember going to stores pre armageddon where they had run out of chicken breasts....

 

[dsp27]

Is the mayo aisle still full? Nothing like 500 identical bags of mayo. All the different items in jumbo would fit in small town foodmart in the states.

This is sooooo right. I occasionally vent about the state of supermarkets in Argentina. People always tell me -- just go to Jumbo on Bulrich -- they have everything they say. Haha. Right, it's a a large space with identical shelves of the same product (it actually reminds me of a North Korean supermarket I saw in a youtube video) it creates the illusion of plentitude but it's not real.

You don't have to travel to the US or Europe for a "normal" supermarket, just look at Brazil -- the likes of Pao de Azucar or Quitanda in Sao Paulo where I used to live.

Now, one could argue that having so much choice is actually a bad thing, it confuses people, makes them less happy (psychology claims more choice makes people unhappy -- if you are stuck with the only option you cannot feel bad about picking A over B). Last time I traveled to the US and got into a Whole Foods after a year in BA, I literally got a panic attack. Still the problem is not the product variety -- I do feel most "capitalist" supermarkets have too much fluff and in the long run this is not environmentally sustainable -- the issue is that this lack of variety is a proxy for competitiveness, innovation, supply chain efficiency and entrepreneurship.

That being said, I rarely go to the supermarket in BA for food. I go to the carniceria, the verduleria, la dietetica, etc. If one lives in CABA and knows where to look you can find most things. It's certainly healthier although less efficient (and more expensive).

Finally, I do not think that the lack of verity means that people eat healthier or less processed food. It's a socio economic issue. Ok no 15 types of soda or snacks -- but they have Manaus.

Attached just my local supermercado's mushroom section in Sao Paulo.

 

[jblaze5779]

One aisle of mayo
One aisle of dry pasta (various types here)
One aisle of coke (and I mean only "coke", not coke like a southern says)
One aisle of cooking oil
One aisle of fernet
At the back of the store where the carneceria is, a massive jumblefuck of people waiting for their number to be called.
Can't shop any of the home goods stuff because the lines from the register reach all the way through them to the food aisles.

When you stand back and look at it, there's little variety of the items. They could save money and fit all this stuff into a small La Anonima type place. I would even argue that some of the Anonimas have more selections than the jumbo. Being in Neuquen we don't get the imported stuff like those in BA do, so when there's espresso or cheese I load up on that. One day there was mexican salsas, bought 10 of those. Cans of blue diamond almonds for 10 bucks a can. Another favorite is when they have pretzels, been burned here a few times with super stale bags.

And for my produce, why do I have to wait in a line for one person in the entire store to weigh it? The first thing I do is look at the produce line to see how long it is and then I decide if I'm buying produce there.

One of my favorite interactions at Coto was during checkout the checker goes to scan a power strip I wanted to buy, of course there is no barcode on this particular one. I tell him the price of the item as I remember it from the shelf, 480 pesos. We look at each other for a second as I'm expecting him to call someone over to go get one with a code on it. He keeps looking at me and finally tells me that it has no code and asks if I still want it. I waited in line for 45 min already so hell yes I want it. So he says it again "there's no code..." motherfucker I grab it from him and swim upstream like a salmon through 30 yards of people and baskets to try and remember the location where I picked this thing up. I get another one and verify it has a code and swim yet again through the lines of people and baskets and give it to him. All the while he sat there on his little chair and looked off into the oblivion. He scanned it and asked "un pago". It might be excusable though because he looked like he may have been learning challenged but here you're never certain.

How do people live like this?

My best experience was at the Carafour (not in anyway relatable to the Carafours of Europe) in town. With a kid named Dennis. This go getter chugged right through 12000 pesos of groceries in about 2 minutes and then didn't hassle me about a 5000 pesos transaction limit like everyone else does. I don't know how he did it but he charged the whole thing on one transaction. I told that dude thank you and that I was really impressed with his attitude and effort.

 

[Renzi]

That being said, I rarely go to the supermarket in BA for food. I go to the carniceria, the verduleria, la dietetica, etc. If one lives in CABA and knows where to look you can find most things. It's certainly healthier although less efficient (and more expensive).

I think you brought up something important. The shopping habits in BA seem to focus more on small neighborhood places that specialize in one type of product, which is a throwback to how it used to be decades ago in the US before the "get everything in one place" model took over. I live near the "ocho esquinas" of Chararita and Colegiales and within a two-block radius, there are no less than 5 corner produce markets with lines outside every day. This is in spite there being both a Jumbo (this one has a pitiful produce section) and Carrefour, and a half dozen Chinos nearby.

(As a former Whole Foods employee, whenever I see large selections of beautiful produce like in those pics, all I can think about is how much of that will end up in the garbage.)