SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Shoppers are starting to see bare grocery store shelves again.
It’s not a new sight since the pandemic started, but it has been some time since it was this bad.
One shopper found barely anything inside these fridges at his local Safeway in Belmont.
It’s a similar situation at the Safeway in San Francisco. KRON4 found milk and meat in short supply at the Jackson Street location.
Part of the reason we’re seeing less items on the shelves is due to the pandemic trends that never went away.
The omicron variant is also adding on to the list.
Stew Leonard Jr. is the president of his supermarket chain. Last week, he said 200 of his workers were either out sick or in quarantine.
The president of Conagra Brands says his U.S. plants will be constrained for at least the next month. He says its because of omicron-related absences.
There’s also a deficit of truck drivers who are able to drive and deliver new grocery items.
In October, the American Trucking Association said the U.S. was short about 80,000 drivers.
Shipping also remains delayed. It’s impacting everything from imported food to packaging.
According to one consumer brands expert — grocery stores have five to 10 percent of their items out of stock at any given time.
Right now — it’s about 15 percent.
Experts are divided as to when we’ll stop going on a grocery scavenger hunt.