The toilet paper wars of early 2020 were a serious wake-up call to millions of people who have now decided to adopt a new "prepping" and survival lifestyle.
Bulk buying, which used to typically cater to larger families, is now the norm for many people post-plandemic, especially as food prices soar due to rapid and unrelenting inflation.
It is becoming clear that things are probably not going back to normal anytime soon. And with persistent supply chain issues leaving store shelves increasingly bare, there is a growing sense of concern about what the future holds.
The new mantra is be prepared or be hungry. And part of being prepared means having storable foods on hand in case of an emergency, or simply to hedge against an inflationary trend that is clearly not "transitory" as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed.
"The pandemic was an eye-opener for tens of millions of consumers who learned the government and big corporations wouldn't take care of them when things go south," reports Zero Hedge.
"Even our elected officials were nowhere to be found in the early days of the pandemic when people panic hoarded food at supermarkets and fought over toilet paper in a 'free for all battle royale.'"
Bulk buying helps families to weather the storm of volatility and uncertainty in the supply chain
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed consumers across the country who explained how their purchasing habits have changed due to the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19).
Supply chain woes coupled with inflation really are causing more and more people to buy their food in bulk, as well as eat at home more as opposed to eating out at restaurants and fast-food joints.
"I don't want to be in a position again where I can't get something," said 41-year-old Alexis Abell, a mother of five.
Abell was laid off from her job in 2020 and decided not to return to work. Her household currently spends about 25 percent more on food per week versus a couple of years ago, suggesting that inflation is much higher than the official numbers indicate.
"The stimulus money is gone, but we've gotten used to having more on hand and I'm cooking more at home, so I expect this to continue."
Not to be confused with hoarding, bulk buying is simply a form of prepping that for many people takes current and future adverse life factors into account. Instead of relying on the expectation of same-day availability for staples, bulk buying takes into account potential disruptions, which are becoming increasingly more common.
Perhaps you have already noticed that certain items at the grocery store go missing for extended periods of time, causing workers to have to shuffle around other food items to fill in the gaps.
Sometimes the missing items come back, and sometimes they do not. This is the post-plandemic "new normal" that our dear leaders warned us about, and it is probably not going away any time soon.
"They didn't just stock up that week, but they said to themselves, even if subconsciously, 'That's not going to happen to me again,'" says Bob Nolan, senior vice president of Demand Science at food giant Conagra Brands Inc. about how many consumers have "made permanent changes" to their food-buying habits after experiencing the "harsh realities of pandemic shortages."
According to the research firm IRI, which tracks household goods consumption, the average yearly growth in sales by volume for food and beverages is around 0.5 percent. Over the past two years, however, that figure has skyrocketed to 3 percent.
More related news about doomsday prepping can be found at Survival.news.
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