October is the month of plenty of pork, for a long time was the month for hog slaughtering on farms. Usually this month pork prices are the lowest of the year.
I went to two grocery stores today. Sausage was on my shopping list. Walmart (main instigator of the shortages?) has had more foods in stock than I've seen in years but had virtually no sausage. A few packs of patties or links but no rolls of sausage at all.
Went to another regional chain store. They had more but not a lot. only three or four rolls of one brand. And the price was sky high. It was about $3 a roll a couple of weeks ago. Today it was $4.49.
This store always has pork chops for a great price in October. I didn't look at the prices but nothing was on special and I haven't seen any on sale all month.
Higher prices on any meat isn't a shock but why the dearth of sausage in a month when pork is usually more plentiful than any other time of year?
The stores seem to be cycling thru goods shortages.
The shipping delays are across the board. And it's been happening longer than people realize. The trucker shortage is real. So is the container shortage, the shipboard crew/Capt shortage. I have connections to a couple different shipping/logistics companies and boat Capt's, and this shit's been going on since before COVID. The company my brother works for can't keep up be used they're short on both company and independent truckers AND office staff. A buddie's company, who also runs deliveries specifically for Lowe's can't keep up because they're short on drivers. And that company is STILL expanding so much, they're gobbling up whole regions. And that's because Lowe's doesn't have enough drivers. Some locations have none and are sharing drivers from other locales.
The drivers that are left are starting to figure out that they can set the price, not the corporations, so that's playing a part, too. I know drivers that are gonna clear $100k this year for the first time in their lives. And they still have plenty of home time. They've told me that 10-15 yrs ago, they were lucky to clear $50k because there was about double the drivers there are now.
Then about 5 yrs ago, there was a shift. All of a sudden, there weren't enough drivers, containers, routes, shipments, etc. The lockdowns, mandates, and conveniently timed eco laws have just made it all apparent.
And now the "fun" begins.
I've seen a number of places with signs "drivers wanted" for many months around here. And I'm not in a state like California where they're regulating the truckers out of business.
I'm not doubting there are shipping issues, but when a store has lots of everything except one thing at the exact time it should be plentiful, and that's always a big national chain, I suspect they're up to something.