Two local grocers told WWL they are not expecting the ongoing global supply chain crisis to lead to shortages of Thanksgiving staples ahead of this weekend’s pre-holiday rush.
Joseph Zuppardo, co-owner of Zuppardo’s Family Market, told WWL the supply chain problems are causing some problems, specifically when it comes to delivery times, but they planned for that. Knowing it could take longer to stock up on the staples orders were put in earlier than they usually are.
“We have anticipated this based on what is going on, and we believe we have gotten ahead of a lot of these things, so we are currently not expecting to be out of very much,” said Zuppardo.
A Rouses spokesperson confirmed that the chain also is not anticipating any shortages of Thanksgiving staples.
One item that could get tricky to find if you wait too long is a fryer turkey, birds 14 pounds and under. That’s because it turns out we weren’t the only ones who were packing on the pounds last year.
“Some of these plants were shut down because of COVID for a short period of time, some longer than others, and the turkeys never stopped eating the whole time,” said Zuppardo. “So, while they might not have had the people to process the turkeys, the turkeys were still there getting bigger and bigger, and now finding some of the smaller turkeys is a little more challenging.”
Zuppardo said outside of smaller birds other staples you shouldn’t have a problem finding other staples, even if you procrastinate. He did warn that if you do procrastinate, you’ll still be able to pick up what you need, it just might not be the brand that you want.
