Pasta didn't sell out because people were afraid of starving.

Pasta sold out because people didn't know how to cook anything else themselves.

I know how to cook, but when you suddenly have to cook 2x as often because you can't eat out anymore your are going to cook a lot more of everything, including pasta. Suddenly the supply chain was out of whack - it was built for people that eat out a lot.

They can cook, but they can’t be arsed to.

Out of curiosity: did people really experience empty grocery shelves or are phrases such as "rapidly disappeared" meant more as hyperbole?

I live in a Chicago suburb, and while variety did decrease (I still can't get Coke Zero Cherry) the basics were always in stock throughout the pandemic time.

Some grocery items actually went into scarcity.

Why? Because the channel mix changed, and distribution and packaging are channel-specific.

For example, toilet paper is shipped to commercial customers in cardboard boxes, while retail customers by it in plastic-wrapped, branded, and SKU’d blocks of 4, 8, 12, etc. When everyone suddenly stopped going to offices and restaurants, demand plummeted in the commercial channel and soared in the retail channel. It took time for factories and distributors to adjust to that. The same thing happened to a bunch of food staples too.

Since a lot of manufacturing is regional, different areas of the nation and world experienced different impacts.

Toilet paper is interesting because it takes up lots of space, can’t be “compressed”, so most stores doesn’t store too much of them. That’s why they are the first thing to disappear.

Yes, I have pictures of empty shelves on my phone.

Part of the problem was state government response. After each further restriction, people panic bought more.

In the UK flour and yeast disappeared from the shelves for quite a while during the first lockdown baking boom.

The issue wasn't a shortage, but a shortage of flour in small bags.

Interestingly I saw some supermarkets fill up bags they usually use for bakery items to just sell the flour which seemed like a smart solution!

Also in March/April last year hand soap and toilet roll was hard to come by.

I am in Melbourne Australia. Yeah, the normal pasta and rice disappeared for about a week, the shelve were literally empty.

But as mentioned, my GF pasta was fine.

And I don't think anyone really starved as most of the shelves were full of something. Just reduced options thanks to hoarding.

Check Target for your Coke fix. Multiple stores in the Chicago burbs list of in stock.