FYI, from y2ksupply.com:

HERE'S WHAT WE'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW

So far, we've seen a mad dash to stockpile supplies, followed by a near-total collapse of the storable foods industry. However, sales of water filters, oil lamps and other accessories are still sky-high, and both rifles and ammunition are still in short supply. It appears that those interested in preparedness completed their food purchases and moved on to something else... while the naysayers decided they would NEVER buy food.

The word inside the industry is really a question: will there be a SECOND WAVE? If so, supplies could get a double-whiplash, leaving the population once again begging for scarce items. See, right now, when food sales plummeted, food suppliers got stuck with massive quantities of pre-ordered food. A lot of it is sitting around in the food warehouses -- and more food continues to arrive. NOW: the food companies have stopped ordering new food while trying to sell off the existing inventory. If Y2K suddenly heats up again, and people start demanding food, the existing inventories will be sold out fairly quickly, leaving the food suppliers once again playing catch-up.

BUT THEY WON'T GET BURNED TWICE

A lot of food suppliers have learned from this first whiplash event: they won't be over-stocking food again. There's simply too much risk in a fickle public and a government that continues to largely discourage preparedness. So, as a result, food companies will refuse to take the same risks they did in late 1998.

What does that mean? BOTTOM LINE: No huge inventories of storable food sitting around from now on.

The food business turned out to be a lot harder than some suspected. The companies doing the best, it seems, are those who were either in the food business long ago (and have a diverse customer base) or those offering a variety of non-food products (such as water filters). Food-only companies are getting clobbered right now. (And you're seeing some prices start to drop, too...)

-- Blue Himalayan (bh@k2.y), April 27, 1999

Answers

Blue, an interesting item that I would like to pass along, except I can't find it at the Y2KSupply site. Any clues?

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), April 27, 1999.

Yup, at least one supplier, in the retail food business for 14 years (Happy Hovel) is now going strictly wholesale. Now I know why.

-- (orwelliator@biosys.net), April 27, 1999.

Since it has been recorded in gov't and industry transcripts, more than once, references to the public and/or local leaders allegedly being educated about Y2K around "summer," I expect there will be another -- and larger -- wave hitting after then.

PJ in TX

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), April 27, 1999.

I would love to know exactly who these supplies are who are singing the blues. I would love to be able to buy some of the Freeze dried steas and steak pieces Nitro-Pak was selling as of May of 97. I could have bought "all" I wanted at the time, and instead opted for hamburger patties, but only bought 2 cans thinking more would be there. Little did I know. Since that time, I have seen absolutely ridiculus prices for long term food storage systems. I am talking about both freeze dried and dehydrated as well, in both #10 cans and 5/6 gallon buckets. Some of the long time Mormon and a few others (Sam Andy,Ready Reserve) have made an awesome amount of money in the last 18 months. It has been a regular, tear assed rodeo ride for many of them. EVERYBODY who has any connection to a stable customer base has cashed in on the "Y2K racket" as I call it (even me, but that is for another thread). I have been reading American Survival Guide magazine for a number of years and have seen that damn near everyone of their long time advertisers, regardless of product or service, is selling/promoting y2k gear, trips, crap, food,lanterns,junk,grain mills(HAHAHAHA-I have some true crap),solar erveything,etc.

I guess the point is: WAAAAA! Tough titties to anyone who loses money in the business world. I am a business man in the true sense of the word, and say the kitchen gets pretty hot in my business of sales/marketing. I make big bucks and play for big stakes. I don't want to hear any weeping and moaning from a bunch of johnny come lately, wanna-be purveyor of survivalist gear and accroutrements.

Gotta go. My wife "caught" me on the forum late one night after she had gone to bed and thought I was eye-ballin porn. I think she was sorta disappointed to see me here with all you goofball crazies.

Semper Fidelis, Richard, USMC

-- Richard,USMC (Richard,USMC@Leatherneck.com), April 27, 1999.

Brooks, I guess it only appears in the "members only" section. ??

-- Blue Himalayan (bh@k2.y), April 27, 1999.

And another thing: I have been a long time subscriber to Shotgun News as well as ASG and Soldier of Fortune (dont snicker. it is a rag, but there is at least one decent article per month in spite of the bombast). I have seen both peddle y2k to their readers. It was sort of lame to see SOF, but I was surprised to see some of the long time gun and gun gear distributors really hawk cheesy gear for y2k. GENUINE SOVIET ERA, HUNGARIAN MODEL, BULGARIAN MADE GAS MASKS! GET YOURS NOW!!! NOT GUARANTEED TO FIT OR FUNCTION,BUT BUY IT ANY WAY!!!!!! Some are sending me there catalogs as usual (Iam on A LOT of mailing lists) and they have y2k above little ringing alarm clocks which are in turn above the above mentioned cheese. Now I really gotta go. I gotta go see who our boy-chick president bombed today. My dad was in Nha Trang when bILL was in Moscow. Oy-Vay.

Semper Fidelis, Richard,USMC

-- Richard,USMC (Richard,USMC@Leatherneck.com), April 27, 1999.