CSU Explains Why You Can’t Find Any Toilet Paper During COVID-19 Pandemic
It's not just because of panic buyers. Here's TP Econ 101, courtesy of an assistant professor of operations and supply chain management from Colorado State University's College of Business, Zac Rogers.
You may be wondering why on earth it's toilet paper that you can't get your hands on since the COVID-19 pandemic started to creep into our community. Anywhere you go, the paper product aisle is bare, unless you go at just the right time and get your hands on some Charmin Ultra... a two-ply luxury in a time when using a coffee filter would be deemed acceptable.
Yes, hoarding and panic buying certainly are a factor, but there's another reason that toilet paper is scarce these days, and it's simply because shipments to stores just aren't that frequent.
'Toilet paper is big, it takes up a lot of space, but it’s not very valuable,' Rogers explained in a press release from CSU. 'Because of that, you wouldn’t send toilet paper every day. You’d probably send two or three big trucks once a week.'
With only a couple shipments a week, toilet paper supply is falling behind demand during COVID-19 stock-up shopping.
Bottom line here, if you're in need of toilet paper, you'll have to make sure your weekly shopping trip aligns with store shipments (I recently lucked out at Lucky's Market, going to the store right after its senior hour ended on a weekday morning).
The more you know. *shooting star*