The empty ray photos are cause for concern. For a few weeks, the French have been rushing over pasta, rice, frozen foods, animal feed and even toilet paper for fear of running out. Sales of groceries jumped 21% last week according to Nielsen, those of animal food by 14% and those of hygiene products by 12.3%
There has even been a lot of video on the internet that shows three people fighting over the last packet of toilet paper in an Australian supermarket.
In France, many departments are starting to empty, which increases panic and the purchase of precautions for these products which are not perishable. And with the likely transition to Stage 3 of the epidemic in the next few days or weeks, the fear of missing out increases.
Occasional ruptures, no shortage
And the French increasingly favor internet shopping. Last week, for example, sales of consumer products rose 5.6% in total, but sales are booming in e-commerce. + 26% on the drive and even + 74% for home delivery.
However, are there real risks of shortages? A priori, so far everything is fine. Whether manufacturers of food, hygiene or even distributors, all ensure that there is no risk of being missed. This Wednesday on BFMTV Michel-Edouard Leclerc was very clear:
“We have 28 days of inventory in our stores and an additional 28 days with our suppliers. We have food until summer in France,” he said.
The manufacturer of a large group that makes pasta assures for its part that if production were to stop overnight (which is of course not the case), the country would still have 2 months of inventory . Ditto for toilet paper, a good part of which is produced in France.
What is currently happening are occasional shortages since everyone buys the same thing at the same time. It takes a little time to restock, but not more than two days in general.
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