Grocery store supply returning to normal but don't plan on finding hand sanitizer anytime soon

Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Still haven't been able to find toilet paper? That's the case for many Americans but Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen told Good Morning America in an exclusive interview on Wednesday morning that things are starting to stabilize.

"I was in the store last night - we had toilet paper, plenty of meat variety products: beef, pork, chicken, all those things," McMullen, CEO of America's second-largest general retailer, said.
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But, as for hand sanitizer, "I think it is going to take a little bit longer," he said.

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ABC News also spoke to Walmart, Wegmans, Albertsons and Publix.
While a spike in demand definitely led to some empty shelves at the start of the pandemic, a spokesperson for Wegmans said the food supply is catching back up.

"While the unexpected increase in demand has challenged the supply chain, we're seeing it start to equal out," said Laura Camera, a Wegmans spokesperson. "We are confident it will stabilize as long as we prioritize our needs."
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Food produced with more automation than manual labor, like canned goods and cereal, could be better off.

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"Robots don't get viruses," Ananth Iyer, senior associate dean of the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, said.

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Kroger and Walmart both noted that shoppers are coming in less frequently but purchasing more during each trip.



All of the grocery stores told ABC News that they continue to have issues with the hand sanitizer supply.
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Some have implemented purchasing limits.



"We are seeing better conditions in many categories; however, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and paper products have been slower to rebound," said Maria Brous, spokesperson for Publix. "For this very reason, customers will still see limits in place across our stores."

"Toilet paper - I think within a week or so you'll be able to find it anywhere," said McMullen.

ABC News contributed to this story.
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