Households are establishing emergency biscuit reserves after deciding that the only sensible response to uncertain grocery prices is to purchase reassurance in quantities that fit inside a cupboard. The contents are officially for later, a period repeatedly brought forward by the arrival of an email.
The National Biscuit Preparedness Group recommends storing supplies in a cool, dry place, preferably behind an object everybody assumes belongs to somebody else. Its guidance distinguishes essential reserves from everyday biscuits, although the distinction becomes difficult to maintain when both are chocolate-coated. A successful stockpile should provide security without looking like a decision.
Sandra Pike of Reading said her reserve had already protected the household through a delayed delivery, an awkward conversation and the discovery that the reserve was nearly empty. She has ordered a larger tin. This will allow her to describe the next purchase as organisation rather than repetition.
Economists have been asked whether buying tomorrow’s biscuits today constitutes thrift. The household says it does, provided the cost is compared with an unspecified future price rather than the perfectly definite amount just spent. Pike describes the approach as taking control. The tin, having heard this before, has made no comment.
