When Staples Vanished: Supermarket Panic-Buying during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kawazu and Ortiz-Moya share their experience of supermarket panic-buying during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zushi, Japan. They cite that while they were struggling to buy the food they needed, Prime Minister Abe's school cancellation announcement suddenly left suppliers with mountains of food that would have gone to school cafeterias. In addition to the enormous economic implications that small suppliers, whose revenue mostly comes from schools, have had to face, these small businesses were suddenly given the test of addressing this oversupply. Fortunately, some local governments and suppliers acted quickly to address food scarcity and food waste, distributing their food stocks or selling them at discounted prices.