Food shortages

[JenB]

I usually use Allinsons Easy Bake (for a machine), and currently you can get a 100g tin on eBay for about £10

.

A couple of weeks ago people were bidding well over £20.00 for a tin on eBay.

[ThrelfallYorky]

Popped into nearby Lidl today for something, and saw self raising flour there, so bought one for friend who had been bemoaning couldn't get any. (Spread a little happiness....)
TY

[guest189040]

My local Waitrose has had bread flour of one sort or another the past couple of weeks when I've been in - though I do go early in the day. It's been dire in Tesco, though.

However, when I was running short before that I managed to order a 16kg bag online direct from a mill. Some have closed their online sales entirely, but some are open for a short time each day, so you may need to keep trying places repeatedly until you catch them. Try searching for "wholemeal bread flour UK" (or whatever kind you want) and see what comes up. In my case, the cost of flour plus delivery came to a bit more per kg than I'd have paid locally, but not massively so - certainly not as much as the rip-off merchants on eBay where you can pay £10 or more for a single 1.5kg bag.

It's a similar story with yeast, though I haven't seen any at all in the supermarket for weeks. I usually use Allinsons Easy Bake (for a machine), and currently you can get a 100g tin on eBay for about £10 instead of the usual £1.20 or so (from memory). Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I came across another brand (Fermipan), with sellers on Amazon and eBay, and as the reviews were quite good I thought I'd try it - 500g for a bit under £10, but smaller sizes are also available. I haven't needed to open it yet, so I hope it's OK - the flour I got was very good, though.

I too found this make and ordered a packet.

500g is enough for quite a lot of bread/buns etc, just need to aquire a bit more flour but I have enough for a couple of loaves

We have enough bread to last until Wednesday so Thursday is bread making day.

[Marmalady]

I don't make bread very often -- currently only when we run out between supermarket deliveries.
We had stocks of bread flour & dried yeast in for Brexit at the end of January, so am using those. I have managed to get a couple of bags of bread flour in one of my deliveries but they substituted the tin of dried yeast with a couple of sachets of dried yeast that is not suitable for use in a breadmaker. Makes lovely dough for pizza bases tho!

Mostly, I get what I order in my delivery --tho often some things are out-of-stock at point of order so I have to substitute at that stage. For instance, most of Heinz soups always seem to be out of stock but other brands have availability.
Things that are most often missing from my order without substitution are 85% Plain Chocolate and Olives.

[LizzieL]

My local Waitrose has had bread flour of one sort or another the past couple of weeks when I've been in - though I do go early in the day. It's been dire in Tesco, though.

It's Waitrose we've been trying with no success at all. My husband gets delivery slots because he is classed as vulnerable. We can't get any delivery slots at all from the other three supermarkets we are registered with and have used in the past. Aren't supermarkets using the same NHS list of vulnerable people?

[Roobarb]

I thought that the craze for bread making was the most recent fad and that many people would have got bored with it by now, just like the latest exercise video or whatever. (I don't mean those of you regular breadmakers). It would seem not.

My friend has been shopping for me and the only thing she had difficulty with was eggs, although she did get me some a few days later. Someone mentioned a problem in getting frozen cauliflower - yesterday I got a Tesco delivery that I booked four weeks ago, I wasn't able to order frozen cauli although I did get a fresh one. It's my favourite veg but as I live on my own the frozen veg is more convenient. Seems odd that broccoli was available though.

[mazi]

My local Waitrose has had bread flour of one sort or another the past couple of weeks when I've been in - though I do go early in the day. It's been dire in Tesco, though.

It's Waitrose we've been trying with no success at all. My husband gets delivery slots because he is classed as vulnerable. We can't get any delivery slots at all from the other three supermarkets we are registered with and have used in the past. Aren't supermarkets using the same NHS list of vulnerable people?

I am not on the gov. list either, seems you not only have to register online but tick the box for needing help.

There is a phone no. to ring as well which may work.

Mike

[KGarrad]

Our flour in the main comes from a local flour mill, Laxey Flour Mill.
However they are used to supplying large bags to the trade (restaurants, bakers etc.) and have found it difficult to supply the demand for 1kg bags. So there was a shortage of flour.

But perseverance paid off and I got a bag of plain, and a bag of self-raising, some weeks ago.

I go to Tesco (my closest supermarket) each Monday; 9am to 10am is reserved for vulnerable and elderly.
This week and last week, there were no queues

The only thing I am having a problem getting is Tesco's in-house bakery wholemeal baguette (aka French stick).

[LizzieL]

I think the problem with supermarkets is that my OH is registered with Waitrose and I am registered with the other three. We both have medical conditions as listed on the government website

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

but my OH is over 70 and I'm just under, so he qualifies for priority delivery slots but I don't even though shopping for same household.