Lansing Community College Prof Explains Why You Can’t Find TP
Long after this pandemic is over, what will we remember about it? Working from home? (or getting laid off) No sports or concerts? That people who own big wild animals seem to be nuts? Or, will we talk about the national fear of not being able to find toilet paper?
According to Marker, the toilet paper shortage is not due to people hoarding. It's due to the way toilet paper is produced and the supply chain. You may be surprised, but not all toilet paper is made the same. There's the cheap, thin stuff sold to commercial customers like airports and stadiums (and your office building, right?) And then there's the good stuff - the stuff you buy (when you can). Both are made and shipped very differently. Lansing Community College professor Jim Luke used to be head of planning for a wholesale paper distributor. And Professor Luke says:
“Not only is it not the same product, but it often doesn’t come from the same mills. So for instance, Procter & Gamble [which owns Charmin] is huge in the retail consumer market. But it doesn’t play in the institutional market at all.”
So, stop giving the evil eye to your neighbors. They didn't do this.
Hang in there. We'll get through this. Here's the story.