WEBVTT - Why Do Stores Keep Running Out of Toilet Paper?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel Bam Here. The good people who

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<v Speaker 1>make toilet paper and get it onto the shelves of

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<v Speaker 1>our local stores have been telling us for weeks that

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<v Speaker 1>we have nothing to worry about. You'll have your sharmin,

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<v Speaker 1>they say, you're quilted, Northern and angel softened. Fill in

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<v Speaker 1>the store brand here will be there for you. But

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<v Speaker 1>anyone who has been shopping lately knows, more than a

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<v Speaker 1>month into a worldwide pandemic, the paper aisle remains an

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<v Speaker 1>unmitigated disaster area. So is it ever going to get better?

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<v Speaker 1>And of all things, why toilet paper in the first place.

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<v Speaker 1>When consumers of toilet paper first became aware of the

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<v Speaker 1>novel coronavirus and the possibly lengthy stay at home orders

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<v Speaker 1>that seemed sure to follow, the reaction generally fell one

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<v Speaker 1>of two ways. Oh One, let's wait and see see

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<v Speaker 1>how this thing shakes out, see if all this fuss

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<v Speaker 1>is for not? And two battened down the bathroom hatches

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<v Speaker 1>were in here for the long haul. Better stock up.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in early March in the United States, it seemed

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<v Speaker 1>as if the panic buyers and the hoarders clearly had

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<v Speaker 1>won out, but the perception of a looming shortage may

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<v Speaker 1>not be entirely accurate. Despite the empty shelves. We spoke

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<v Speaker 1>Georgia Pacific spokesperson Eric Abercrombie. Georgia Pacific is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the leading makers of toilet paper in the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>the company behind angel Soft toilet tissue and Brawny Paper towels.

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<v Speaker 1>Abercrombie said, I wouldn't say that there's a shortage because

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<v Speaker 1>there is paper fibers still available, There's still trees were

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<v Speaker 1>still making it. The raw materials are there. We're working

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<v Speaker 1>with our third party vendors for our packaging needs. Those

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<v Speaker 1>products are there for us to package. It's just a

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<v Speaker 1>matter of time for it to be made and get

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<v Speaker 1>out to the stores. Still, the threat of a shortage

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<v Speaker 1>leads to something that Georgia Pacific's Kim Sackie calls four

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<v Speaker 1>oh fear of running out. That explains panic buying and hoarding.

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<v Speaker 1>Saki told The Chicago Sun Times, if you run out

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<v Speaker 1>of green beans, you can go without green beans. There

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<v Speaker 1>are a lot of things you can substitute. There really

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<v Speaker 1>aren't a lot of substitutes for toilet paper. Greediness and

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<v Speaker 1>fear of being left with an empty roll on the

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<v Speaker 1>dispenser doesn't completely answer why many shelves are still cleaned out,

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<v Speaker 1>though another explanation may lie in a simple supply and

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<v Speaker 1>demand formula. More people at home plus more time at

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<v Speaker 1>home equals greater demand at home. Instead of making use

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<v Speaker 1>of facilities on campus, in office buildings, at restaurants and

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<v Speaker 1>coffee shops and bars, or even at rest stops or airports,

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<v Speaker 1>many people are staying home and using their home facilities.

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<v Speaker 1>The bottom line, sorry, may be as simple as this.

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<v Speaker 1>As a nation, we're almost certainly not going more during

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<v Speaker 1>these trying times. We're just going more at home, and

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<v Speaker 1>right now we don't have enough at home product to

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<v Speaker 1>meet a surging demand. Anyone who's ever made a stop

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<v Speaker 1>in a public toilet and peeled off a line of

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<v Speaker 1>sand papery one ply knows the difference between commercial and

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<v Speaker 1>at home tissue. Abercrombie said, on the consumer side, we

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<v Speaker 1>saw a two times demand back in mid March, so

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<v Speaker 1>we quickly are trying to adjust the operations to meet

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<v Speaker 1>that demand. According to Abercrombie, siting statistics from Information Resources Incorporated,

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<v Speaker 1>a market research company based in Chicago, that demand is heavy.

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<v Speaker 1>An average United States household of two point six people

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<v Speaker 1>uses four hundred and nine equivalized rolls of toilet paper

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<v Speaker 1>per year, equivalized roles being kind of an average sized

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<v Speaker 1>role among all the mega and double rolls. Consider a

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<v Speaker 1>job that takes a third of a day, not counting commutes,

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<v Speaker 1>or a school day that takes somewhere around that at

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<v Speaker 1>in time, eating out, in various other time away from home.

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<v Speaker 1>Now roll up all that away from home time and

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<v Speaker 1>add it to stay at home time. Staying home GP

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<v Speaker 1>figures would mean around at increase in at home toilet

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<v Speaker 1>tissue use, and that means, by GPS counting, a two

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<v Speaker 1>person household would need about nine double rolls or five

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<v Speaker 1>megas to last two weeks during this pandemic. A four

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<v Speaker 1>person household seventeen doubles or nine megas for two weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>That sounds like a lot if it's accurate. It also

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<v Speaker 1>sounds like a good argument that actual need, as much as,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe more than, greed is what's keeping grocery store

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<v Speaker 1>shelves barren. Georgia Pacific has fourteen facilities that make bath

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<v Speaker 1>tissue and paper towels, both retail and commercial in eleven states.

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<v Speaker 1>Those places employ around seven thousand, five hundred workers. They're

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<v Speaker 1>working at about one and twenty percent capacity, Abercrombie says,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're not alone. We also spoke by email with

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Fanroy, a presentative for Procter and Gamble. They said,

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<v Speaker 1>we're producing and shipping Sharman at record high levels. We're

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<v Speaker 1>currently manufacturing and shipping. Demand continues to outpace supply, but

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<v Speaker 1>we're working diligently to get product to our retailers as

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<v Speaker 1>fast as humanly possible so everyone can continue to enjoy

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<v Speaker 1>the go. So what else can be done? All consumers

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<v Speaker 1>can do at this point is sit and wait for

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<v Speaker 1>manufacturers to catch up. The good people that make all

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<v Speaker 1>that toilet paper are already tugging at the supply chain,

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<v Speaker 1>increasing and varying production where they can, and looking for

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<v Speaker 1>efficiencies in packaging and distribution. Heidi Brock, the president of

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<v Speaker 1>the American Forest and Paper Association, said in a statement.

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<v Speaker 1>This situation is highly dynamic and changing daily, and the

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<v Speaker 1>industry is working diligently to respond to the spike in

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<v Speaker 1>demand for TISSOO products due to coronavirus COVID nineteen purchases.

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<v Speaker 1>The rest assured Tishoot products continue to be produced and

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<v Speaker 1>shipped just as they are fifty two weeks each year

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<v Speaker 1>as part of a gable market. Toilet paper manufacturers are

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<v Speaker 1>clearly not meeting that demand quite yet. The TP supply

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<v Speaker 1>chain has a lot of moving parts. It's not as

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<v Speaker 1>simple as switching a machine from scratchy one ply to

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<v Speaker 1>cooshy two ply, or from mega commercial rolls to a

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<v Speaker 1>double at home sizes. There's the packaging to The companies

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<v Speaker 1>will have to print more plastic wrap and already are

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<v Speaker 1>for more home use packages, you know, with the clouds

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<v Speaker 1>or bears or bunnies or kitties on them, and they'll

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<v Speaker 1>do fewer of the boxes that go to stores and businesses.

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<v Speaker 1>Shipping and storage also remain a challenge. A toilet paper,

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<v Speaker 1>as relatively bulky and light as it is, never has

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<v Speaker 1>been an awfully efficient cargo to get from manufacture to

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<v Speaker 1>store shelf. You can only get so many rolls on

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<v Speaker 1>a truck. Nobody likes to use storage space on huge

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<v Speaker 1>packages of toilet paper either. Furthermore, the product's bulk may

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<v Speaker 1>encourage panic purchases, since fewer packages of toilet paper can

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<v Speaker 1>fit on one consumer facing shelf than some other products.

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<v Speaker 1>It may appear the stores running low more quickly once

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<v Speaker 1>a few packages are gone. We also spoke with David Kloss,

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<v Speaker 1>the John H. McConnell Chair Emeritus of the Department of

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<v Speaker 1>Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University's broad College of Business.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, it's not easy the relationships. If you're going

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<v Speaker 1>through the commercial industry, it's a completely different set of

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<v Speaker 1>distributors than retailers. There's different flows. Who controls it is different. Still,

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<v Speaker 1>the people that keep us in cottonell, et cetera are

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<v Speaker 1>working on it. The shelves for the good at home stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>as quickly as they're emptied out, are regularly getting filled again. Eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>and probably soon, suppliers will catch up to the demand,

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<v Speaker 1>distribution will become a little more streamlined, and when it

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<v Speaker 1>all comes together, the paper aisle will again be a

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<v Speaker 1>safe place to go, so to speak. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by John Donovan and produced by Tyler Clang. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and lots of other urgent topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.