Research group Inmar suggests that from surveys conducted at the end of July, consumers may be embarking on a second round of “pantry stuffing”.  Approximately 70 percent of 1,000 adults responded that they are replenishing groceries on a weekly basis and almost half are stockpiling.  The motivation appears to be the emergence of the Delta variantof SARS-CoV-2 virus.  Consumers wish to avoid a repetition of out-of-stock situations that occurred during February through April of last year. 

Shoppers are also influenced in their purchasing by the concern that inflation will drive up prices.  Natural disasters, including floods in the EU and in many parts of the U.S., fires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are serving as a subliminal message to maintain higher levels of consumables, cleaning materials, frozen and canned foods.  It is questioned whether the desire to stock-up will extend to perishables including dairy, meat, and eggs.  This situation may however change if there is any hint of a disruption of the food chain.

 Appropriate communication between suppliers, producers, distributors, and retailers is considered essential to avoid bottlenecks and to prevent surges in demand. These cannot be balanced by short-term increases in production due to temporal biological and logistic restraints.