Re:Ask HN: How to prosper under negative interest rates?
by CSSer on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @07:25PM
(#22743903)
Where did the restaurants and the school get their food from? I know that means a great disruption, but I’m still not convinced that means a shortage.
Re:Ask HN: How to prosper under negative interest rates?
by nitrogen on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @08:22PM
(#22744334)
Sysco and the like. It's probably a distribution rather than a supply issue.
Re:Ask HN: How to prosper under negative interest rates?
by sokoloff on Tuesday March 31, 2020 @08:40PM
(#22744452)
Exactly. Typical container size in foodservice distribution is a #10 can, packed 6 to a case. Each #10 can is 3 quarts.
Fairly few households are interested in buying canned tomatoes 18 quarts at a time.
If stuff doesn't get manufactured for months, we will have a shortage of many other things as well. Obviously we have a lack of demand for other things at the same time.
I don't think there is that much unreasonable stockpiling. People are no longer eating out. Kids are no longer eating at school. So people buy more at supermarkets. They also buy for a week, quite sensibly, to avoid making a trip to a crowded supermarket every day.
Combine that with finely tuned just in time logistics and you get a bit of a crunch. There's simply a misalignment of capacity right now, but there could be a real shortage of some essentials soon.