Cornwall

[papasmurf]

OMG...

3 weeks ago I was in London, 2 weeks ago I was in Newcastle and now I'm down here. None of these places have shown signs of shortages or reduced menus.

1 minute you haven't been out due to doctors orders, then you go shopping with your wife and friends and all the shelves are empty. Now you are saying you don't go out to eat due to lack of choice and prices. Make your mind up!

I sometimes eat in places where the prices would make your toes curl up, so no, I don't eat crap as you suggest.

More lies about me, I do not go shopping with my wife or any one else, but my wife and neighbours have been complaining about food and other shortages for months as have the local restaurants, cafes and hotels, which why the curtailed menus.
That you have been eating at high end restaurants explains why you are in ignorance of the situation.
It also explains your I am alright Jack comments on a wide range of subjects on the forum.

[Nick]

You obviously have not stayed the area where I live. Due to staff shortages and supply problems there has been a drastic reduction in menu choice locally. You must have been lucky, or you eat low end food.
My wife an I have stopped eating out because of the very limited menus, and cook the meals we would normally order at home. ( Despite the eyewatering  rises in the cost of the ingredients.)

OMG...

3 weeks ago I was in London, 2 weeks ago I was in Newcastle and now I'm down here. None of these places have shown signs of shortages or reduced menus.

1 minute you haven't been out due to doctors orders, then you go shopping with your wife and friends and all the shelves are empty. Now you are saying you don't go out to eat due to lack of choice and prices. Make your mind up!

I sometimes eat in places where the prices would make your toes curl up, so no, I don't eat crap as you suggest.

[papasmurf]

Your article immediately outlines that there were staffing problems before the end of the transition period and Brexit. Secondly, neither you nor you magazine know why these people went back home, I would hazard a guess that they didn't want or couldn't afford to be stuck in a foreign country during lockdown. Also it barely mentions food shortages and concentrates on staff.

That is just that article the shortages have been national news and widely reported for months.

[Nick]

Nick have you no access to current affairs and trade websites? I am puzzled as to why you are so lacking in information that is public domain.

Link with embedded links to the problems nationally:-

https://www.specialityfoodmagazine.com/news/food-labour-shortage-brexit-covid

Your article immediately outlines that there were staffing problems before the end of the transition period and Brexit. Secondly, neither you nor you magazine know why these people went back home, I would hazard a guess that they didn't want or couldn't afford to be stuck in a foreign country during lockdown. Also it barely mentions food shortages and concentrates on staff.

[Sheepy]

Can we have a link to that?

Having travelled a great many places and having shown your evidence much to others distaste, because although after decades of Westminster party politics driven by solely EU policy, they will never see how stupid they were just like reading a mask disclaimer on a box. But I still admire your efforts, but take it from me, you are not dealing with rational people.

[papasmurf]

I spend on average between 150 -200 days a year living in hotels and eating out. I believe I am fairly well positioned to know what a full service menu looks like, and I have not seen anything here to suggest things are not operation at near capacity.

You obviously have not stayed the area where I live. Due to staff shortages and supply problems there has been a drastic reduction in menu choice locally. You must have been lucky, or you eat low end food.
My wife an I have stopped eating out because of the very limited menus, and cook the meals we would normally order at home. ( Despite the eyewatering  rises in the cost of the ingredients.)

[papasmurf]

Can we have a link to that?

Nick have you no access to current affairs and trade websites? I am puzzled as to why you are so lacking in information that is public domain.

Link with embedded links to the problems nationally:-

https://www.specialityfoodmagazine.com/news/food-labour-shortage-brexit-covid

[Nick]

Also - several of the major supermarkets have basically openly stated that in future there will be less choice in the shops due to Brexit

Can we have a link to that?

[Nick]

Unless you have a copy of the old menu from at least 2019 or earlier, how do you know the menu isn't cut down?

I spend on average between 150 -200 days a year living in hotels and eating out. I believe I am fairly well positioned to know what a full service menu looks like, and I have not seen anything here to suggest things are not operation at near capacity.

[papasmurf]

For the pubs, I ate in about 5 pubs - I can't prove anything, but they all had pretty small menus with less choice than I would have normally seen before 2020.

I also saw many restaurants and shops advertising open positions and quite a few places that I visited had signs "this area is closed due to staff shortages" or "we no longer serve food outside due to staff shortages" or suchlike.

That would apply to all the pubs, restaurants, cafés, and hotels where I live. (The menus are very curtailed and "burgerised."  )

[Javert]

Try The Countryman, that's near you, and it's got a full menu. I know as I was in there.

Unless you have a copy of the old menu from at least 2019 or earlier, how do you know the menu isn't cut down?

I was in Cornwall the last 2 weeks and I visited quite a few shops and pubs.

I didn't notice major shortages in the shops in the daytime, but the couple of times I went late in the day there were some empty shelves.  I cannot prove whether that's "normal" for the time of year.  e.g. I could not get any tea bags one evening.

For the pubs, I ate in about 5 pubs - I can't prove anything, but they all had pretty small menus with less choice than I would have normally seen before 2020.

I also saw many restaurants and shops advertising open positions and quite a few places that I visited had signs "this area is closed due to staff shortages" or "we no longer serve food outside due to staff shortages" or suchlike.

Generally I had to drive out of town to have a chance of getting a table at any pub or restaurant.

Of course without clear comparable data from 2019 or before, I'm sure I'll be told this is perfectly normal for the time of year or whatever.

Also - several of the major supermarkets have basically openly stated that in future there will be less choice in the shops due to Brexit, so I'm not sure why they would announce that if it's not the case.  They mainly said it would be more that there will be less brand choice of products rather than products completely missing.

[Nick]

On to pubs and restaurants.

Another randomly chosen pub and amazingly it had a full menu and full staff (I asked). This was on our way back from Lands End, which strangely enough took us all of 30 minutes to drive in, park, walk around and then leave. And I didn't see a single Zombie walking the streets.

[Nick]

Business rents and property prices are astronomical in Cornwall as well.

Compared to London city?? Dream on.

[papasmurf]

This has nothing to do with it. Tesco express are usually located in the city, IE within London city opposite Big Ben. The reason they are more expensive is due to the cost of the convenience and the fact that the rent / property price is astronomical

Business rents and property prices are astronomical in Cornwall as well.

[Nick]

The prices are dearer than a normal Tesco.  It is you who is not better informed. There has been more than enough public domain information about it.

More detail at link:-
https://www.which.co.uk/news/2021/02/the-cost-of-convenience-how-much-extra-will-you-pay-at-sainsburys-local-and-tesco-express/

Tesco vs Tesco Express Tesco's prices also varied quite significantly, with our basket of groceries costing £279 more, on average, at Tesco Express over the course of a year.

This has nothing to do with it. Tesco express are usually located in the city, IE within London city opposite Big Ben. The reason they are more expensive is due to the cost of the convenience and the fact that the rent / property price is astronomical