They actually talked to the California Grocers Association, and quoted the CEOs of Albertson's, the nation's largest supermarket company; and Conagra, one of the largest food companies on the planet. Not exactly anecdotes. These are people with access to real data.
I haven't seen any, myself.
I've seen it.
I have a regular bi-weekly list, and a lot of the items are getting harder and harder to find.
I have to try two or three stores, and even supplementing with Amazon Fresh, I still can't get everything.
Two of the chain supermarkets near me have signs up apologizing for the empty shelves, saying they're stocking them as quickly as they can. Which tells me this is a staffing issue, not a supply issue.
Would a Grocers Association or supermarket chain have any financial, political or legal reason to overemphasize that unusual or substantive shortages might be happening?
Yes. (Though that doesn’t mean they are wrong or misleading in this case.)
Which is why it is wise to look at actual objective nationwide data first. Anecdotes are useful in suggesting where to check real data (or gather real data if missing).
Whoever is gathering supermarket pricing data on a nationwide basis (secret shoppers) would objectively know what’s happening, if anything, and if it is local or regional or nationwide. An actual news agency would have contacted them and paid for the general non-proprietary regional/national info.
I agree with your take on this being a staffing issue where you are, if they are posting those sorts of signs and actively hiring.
Would a Grocers Association or supermarket chain have any financial, political or legal reason to overemphasize that unusual or substantive shortages might be happening?
Contrary to what Hollywood and the internet would have you believe, not everything is a conspiracy. Inventing conspiracies any time something doesn't meet your worldview is just plain lazy.
As for providing the hard data, if that's what you're after, subscribe to the Wall Street Journal.
This is NPR. It's a radio network. It produces radio-sized reports. It just happens to also put those reports in text form on the web as a convenience.
It's great that you're interested in the data. Go find it. It's out there. NPR isn't going to hand it to you on a silver platter. That's not what NPR is for. That's not what radio is for.
Whoever is gathering supermarket pricing data on a nationwide basis
The federal government does this every month. The data is available. Go nuts.
The USDA Agricultural marketing service has an incredible amount of frequently updated data and reports about the movement and price of agricultural commodities through the supply chain.
They actually talked to the California Grocers Association, and quoted the CEOs of Albertson's, the nation's largest supermarket company; and Conagra, one of the largest food companies on the planet. Not exactly anecdotes. These are people with access to real data.
I haven't seen any, myself.
I've seen it.
I have a regular bi-weekly list, and a lot of the items are getting harder and harder to find.
I have to try two or three stores, and even supplementing with Amazon Fresh, I still can't get everything.
Two of the chain supermarkets near me have signs up apologizing for the empty shelves, saying they're stocking them as quickly as they can. Which tells me this is a staffing issue, not a supply issue.