The Covid-19 virus will go down in history as an unprecedented global pandemic. While the impacts to our health and our economy are tragic, they are also educational. There is a lot we will learn from this experience which will hopefully help us in the future.

One thing which we are definitely learning, is the impact a pandemic has on consumer behaviour, which is, Corona has caused panic buying. As a student of economics, I find this fascinating, so I wanted to share some light-hearted observations I made at a local supermarket.

So here’s a pictorial post of the findings. Hope it fills some of your day with something positive. The information below has not been extensively researched. At best it's conjecture, and at worst it’s total fiction. Photos were all taken on March 18th at my local supermarket, except for the one photo of Costco which was the next day.

The first thing we might notice, is that supermarkets are busier than normal. You might even say there are hordes of hoarders. At our very recently opened Costco, people were literally lining up around the building, waiting for a chance to shop.

People lining up for almost 2 hours to do their shopping

Toilet Paper

We couldn’t write about Corona shopping, without mentioning toilet paper. In Australia, we were ahead of the curve on this, but from what I’ve read, it has gone global. People are panic buying toilet paper.

It would be interesting to see how this all started. A few people decided that they better stock up and so went out and bought 5 years worth of toilet paper. Then someone in the media thought it would make an interesting story, so reported that people are stocking up, which encouraged others to stock up.

Eventually it turned into a toilet paper frenzy with supermarkets now implementing a limit of 1 pack per customer. Despite these restrictions, toilet paper is still being rapidly purchased by collectors.

Toilet paper generally sells out within a couple of hours of being restocked

It would be interesting to interview a collector, or maybe if any collectors reading this can answer in the comments section at the bottom. I’d like to know why they need so many years worth of toilet paper. Will Covid-19 somehow change the world in a way which leaves us unable to produce it ever again?

I have enough to last a few months, and that was purchased back in 2019. I feel bad for those who might actually need toilet paper, as the craziness has made it unusually difficult to buy any. Another question for the collectors would be, how much do they think my 7 rolls of toilet paper will be worth in a years time. Maybe I should be saving it!

It should be noted that the madness is not limited to toilet paper, it has also spread to paper towels, tissues, baby wipes, and well any imaginable toilet paper substitute. When the Covid-19 pandemic ends, people will probably wonder what to do with all the toilet paper that is filling up their storage spaces. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see people lining up at the supermarket service desks trying to return their now unwanted supply of toilet paper. Perhaps supermarkets will have to put a limit on returning unwanted toilet paper.

Meat

This one makes a little more sense, because unlike toilet paper, people do need food to survive. Having said that it does raise the question of how much is enough? I found it quite amusing that even the kosher meat, which costs more than twice as much, had also been collected by the hoarding horde. I wonder if the supermarket regrets not charging more for all their regular meat.

While I am happy to know that the collectors will be well fed, once again I have to wonder what will happen when the Corona virus passes. I understand that you can keep meat in the freezer for later, but I’ve also read that frozen meat goes bad after a year.

Maybe I’m missing something did someone discover that after Covid-19 we will only be able to eat meat? What are the plans for consuming all that meat, how many recipes are there? Finally I find it a little ironic because I thought Corona virus was started by people eating meat.

Frozen Food

Given all the meat and now other pre-frozen food that is being collected, I would like to know if they are also collecting freezers. Once again, any feedback in the comments section would be appreciated.

While not completely empty, it is clear that the collectors have visited these freezers. It is funny that they haven’t completely cleaned out the vegetables. What does this tell us about hoarders, do they not appreciate the importance of this food group? To those who have filled their freezers, just remember frozen vegetables don’t last forever.

With all these overflowing freezers, people are stocking up for a prolonged lock down or even an apocalypse. In their view of this prolonged doom, how is that there is still electricity to run their freezers?

Dehydrated Pasta And Rice

Okay I could have made this two sections, but I decided they are being collected for similar reasons… their long shelf life.

A lone pack of Spaghetti looks out over the shelves which once overflowed with his kind

Obviously now that collectors are running out of space in their fridges and freezers, it’s time to fill up the pantry. On the day we visited the supermarket, there was some rice on the shelves, but just like the frozen veggies, there was evidence of hoarder activity. Why was the pasta decimated more than the rice? Will there be secret stock piles of rice in the post - Corona world?

It could be something simple like the fact that rice has a shelf life of 1 year, while pasta has a use by date of 2 years. Maybe hoarders are also very organised and have already planned their menus for the next 106 weeks.

Tinned Food

The great thing about tinned food, is that it really is easy to store. The tins are designed so that they can be stacked. This means you can build a wall of tinned food wherever you need to. Hey if you want a hidden wall of food in your bedroom closet, then tinned food is the way to go

Nothing clears a room like a can of beans

There’s no way to overstate the value of tinned food in times when we’re hoarding in hordes. Having said that, just remember, in lock down, beans may have some unwanted side effects.

The other great thing about tinned food is the variety. They really do put a lot of different things into little metal tins, just make sure you don’t peel off the labels. Open the mystery can is a fun game for a while, until someone gets the dog food.

Hand Sanitiser, Soap and Detergent

We all know that washing your hands is an important pre-emptive measure. So yes it’s a good idea to have some soap and some portable hand sanitiser. The problem is that if you overbuy it and don’t leave any for anyone else, then people around you can’t wash their hands. The system works better, if we’re all washing our hands.

Even dish detergent isn’t safe from the buying frenzy

I’m not sure I understand why dish detergent is being hoarded, but dishwasher tablets seem to be in normal supply. What’s the deal with that? Is there some sort of inverse relationship between dishwasher owner ship and hoarding?

Maybe it’s that the liquid dish detergent can be more easily used as an alternate to hand soap. It may leave your hands feeling like they’ve had mild acid bath, but they’ll be clean.

Maybe in the world after Covid-19 liquid soaps of all kinds will be super valuable too. Hey suddenly I’m feeling pretty happy about that 4L bottle of Earth’s Choice ultra concentrated laundry detergent will be worth more than my 7 rolls of toilet paper.

Why Haven’t They Gone Nuts For Tuna

While the empty and depleted shelves were interesting, so too were some of the full shelves. How is it that some things which maybe should be collected, are being bought in normal quantities

Something fishy about shelves full of long life protein food

As we can see, the tuna shelves were full at the time of my visit. So too were nuts. Why is this a surprise? Because both have a very good shelf life, and are high in protein. Fish in particular also has all those oils that are good for your brain. Wait maybe that’s it. Maybe people who are hoarding are the same people who for some reason don’t eat a lot of brain food.

Another surprise was that everything seems normal in the health food aisle. There seems to be lots of long life food in there, like cereals, nuts dried fruit etc. Why isn’t it being hoarded? Is there something we don’t know about the health food, section, or is it just that people who hoard don’t walk down it?

A Closing Note

While we only looked at a few products and we don’t know what each person is or isn’t buying. The one thing we can all be sure of is that everyone is probably feeling like they need more storage space. If it’s not for toilet paper, then it’s for food, or hand cleaner or whatever else we might need in bulk quantities.

This has been just a small sample of what was seen in the supermarket. Much of what was written is not meant to be taken seriously, so if you have been stocking up, then please don’t be offended. But if you are offended, please say so in the comments section :)

For anyone who’s been trying to read that customer notice….

It’s almost like they’re telling us what to hoard

Thanks for reading, I hope the Covid-19 / Corona Virus passes soon and I don’t get a chance to write a post about lock down in Australia…

As always let me know what you think in the comments section below