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Snow business: Milk, bread and the economics of winter weather

Milk and Bread, 2 staples among the American diet, become a joke this time of year as people scatter to the grocery store before snow hits.

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By
Ryan Bisesi
, WRAL multiplatform producer
Whenever a winter storm is in the forecast, an old trope pops up between neighbors, co-workers and friends over the rush to buy milk and bread.

While the two are versatile and staples among the American diet, it becomes a joke this time of year over how people scatter to grocery stores to stock up before the snow hits. It's also a look into human behavior in times of inconvenience and the economics of snow.

Robert Handfield, a supply chain management professor at N.C. State University, studies subjects like consumer habits and even he doesn't quite understand it. Handfield thinks part of it is just habit or learned behavior at this point given that eggs and milk would go bad should the power go out.

Handfield believes the trend is bolstered by what experts call a perceived scarcity.

"There's a perceived scarcity that people out there think they're going to run out of food," he said.

A similar phenomenon happened toward the start of the COVID pandemic when there was a rush to buy paper products like toilet paper.

It's more of a mindset than anything.

"I think people just do it instinctively," Handfield said. "Their parents used to buy bread and milk. Maybe there's a comfort level of knowing, 'well, if we run out of food, we'll have bread and milk.'"

"It would be smarter to buy non-perishables, canned food ... if you lose power, at least you've got something you can eat right away as opposed to something that can go bad."

A look around at shelves at one local store on Thursday showed peanut butter, canned soup, frozen pizza and beer were all big sellers. On a WRAL Facebook post, several people commented they eat soup when it snows, a consistent cold-weather menu item.

A report from AccuWeather includes that the idea of stocking up on milk, bread and eggs dates back to a New England snowstorm in 1978. Many were trapped in their homes for an extended period of time and didn't have access to products.

However, for modern times, a delivery will be made at least once a day of most perishable goods. Many main roads in most cities will be plowed eventually for trucks to make deliveries. The challenge for many is getting out of their neighborhood and its generally advised for most drivers to stay off the roads unless necessary during a significant snow or ice storm.

"Even if they're out of stock on the shelf, they're going to be able to replenish," Handfield said.

Fortunately in the south we don't often get winter storms that cause power outages for days. A storm like the one in January of 2000 where many places in central North Carolina got more than 20 inches of snow is a generational event.

As far as snow impacting shopping habits, Handfield believes there's a bit of 'keeping up with the Joneses' at play.

"There's a belief that somehow that everyone else is going to have it except for me," Handfield said.

Supply chain challenges have been well-documented throughout the country in the two-year span of the pandemic. However, the idea of grocery stores running out of food is extremely unlikely.

"Therefore, you've got to rush to the store and get as much as you can or you're going to be left out. It's a perception that's brought on by that people are worried that they're going to run out ... it's the same reason why this year people bought their Christmas presents early."

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