Grey Poupon By Linda Stowe
Anytime we hear a sentence that starts with, “I don’t mean to whine, but…” we tend to tune out what comes afterward. But I think you’re going to want to hear this because there may be a larger story here.
So, let me start. Last Thursday, February 1, I put in a grocery order from the local Walmart store. Timothy delivered my groceries around 3:00 that afternoon. Everything was there except the 8 oz. jar of Grey Poupon Dijon mustard. Walmart had sent me a notice earlier that it would be shipped separately. I thought that was odd because I remember buying that very mustard at that very Walmart back when I used to go to the grocery store. It’s not that exotic. But I wasn’t completely out, so I wasn’t concerned about it. I’m the Queen of Plan B, so I have three other kinds of mustard on hand. I can wait.
Today I got an email from Walmart that my mustard will be delivered via USPS on Monday, February 12, nearly two weeks after I ordered it. And it’s being shipped from Hialeah, Florida, which is 1,185 miles away. All that time and distance for a $2.30 jar of mustard. Is there a Dijon mustard shortage?
Maybe. According to Google there was a shortage in mustard production in France in 2022 because of drought and other complications in Canada, where the seeds are grown. If that’s not complicated enough, the war in Ukraine was also mentioned as a reason for the slowdown. However, that slowdown in production has been resolved.
Besides, the Grey Poupon Dijon mustard sold in the US is produced in Holland, Michigan, which I might point out is just 304 miles away from Eaton, much closer than Hialeah, Florida. But maybe at the very moment that I placed my order, the Eaton store was fresh out of Grey Poupon Dijon mustard. Maybe the driver got delayed because he stopped for a donut. Maybe it was in the store but sitting on the loading dock because someone called in sick. Who knows. Maybe a butterfly in Africa flapped its wings.
So, what is the larger story? Supply chain. As I was researching this, it occurred to me that everything – everything – that I have in my house was possible because of an intricate and vast world-wide web of producers, shippers, and suppliers. If one little thing goes awry, there could be a chain reaction bringing everything to a halt. We all remember the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020.
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Polly here.
As always, another interesting and thoughtful piece by Linda.
I can’t pretend to know everything about our world supply chains. There are millions of them. But quite often, they seem to be quite absurd.
Imagine. One jar of mustard traveling over a thousand miles just for Linda’s turkey sandwich. Or maybe ham. Or it could be fancy Deviled eggs. She didn’t really tell us that part of the equation.
Anyway, it seems wasteful to me. The traveling mustard jar.
This too: I do quite a bit of my “personal” shopping at Amazon. The main reason for this, is that sometimes, I have to stop at three or four stores before I can find everything on my list. So I bounce from Kroger, to Walmart, to Walgreens, to the Dollar General, just for those five items. And even with that, there is no guarantee I will find those items.
At Amazon, I can click five times, and they are on their way.
Yet, even though I tell them to ship all the items together (when they let me), they often arrive in separate boxes from unique drivers on different days.
So, while I’ve saved my gasoline, time, and resources, I have contributed to wasting other fuel, packaging, and resources.
It all seems completely sideways at times, doesn’t it?
Grey Poupon By Linda Stowe
