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ERIE (Erie News Now) – Shoppers are being told this year shop early because of supply chain issues causing delays and inconveniencing consumer shopping habits. But now, being three weeks away from Thanksgiving. How are local grocery stores handling these shortages?
Erie Food Co-Op are seeing the same issues as major grocery store chains. There has been issues between local growers and national vendors getting stock on their shelves. Most of what’s on their store shelves are all sourced from local growers and vendors right in Erie. That doesn’t mean here locally vendors aren’t feeling the same constraints. With Thanksgiving three weeks away, many shoppers might be concerned if their favorite side dishes might not be in stock when they’re looking to shop.
CEO of Erie Food Co-Op says they’re in good shape now, but there’s no telling what the next few weeks could bring
“As of right now things look OK. Our turkey, our meat and meat substitutes all seem like they’re going to come in okay and that’ll be fine. It’s stuff that’s in cans that people are having a harder time getting,” explains Leanna Nieartko.
Locals might be ditching big box retailers and heading to local grocery stores to find what they need.
“Right now, we have what we need. It’s just a matter of who’s going to come and shop, how much are people going to be buying and how much have our eating habits changed since the pandemic,” explains Nieartko.
Those are the questions Nieartko is asking herself going into this Thanksgiving season. Shelves are stocked and ready to go now, but with supply chain issues on the forefront this holiday season, she’s expecting people to try out local grocery chains to find items that can’t at the big boxes.
“I think everyone is feeling the same crunch as the big chains are feeling right now, but there are ways you can avoid that in your planning and it’s to plan using local ingredients and fresh ingredients in your cooking and you’ll be less likely to run into challenges,” says Nieartko.
Nieartko says they’re already seeing constraints on canned food. This Thanksgiving that could impact pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce, staples at the Thanksgiving table. She says right now, it’s hard to say whether those products will be on the shelves come time to prep for your big meal.
“We don’t actually know what’s going to happen at this point and it does look like canned foods are going to be constrained. Planning to use fresh ingredients, they taste better and you can source them locally and you’re more likely to find them when you come shopping the week of Thanksgiving,” says Nieartko.
Erie Food Co-Op isn’t open on Thanksgiving day, but they are open the day before. They offer Thanksgiving meal boxes you are able to pick up from Erie Food Co-Op.
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