Frustrated because you can’t find dry milk, lemonade mix or paper towels?

Feel for your grocer who wishes he could wave a magic wand to produce them.

An in-store Chronicle survey of BiLo, Food Lion and Publix found many shelves fully stocked.

But certain items were still missing or in short supply.

Back in March, it was nearly impossible to find toilet paper, cleaning supplies or canned goods including soup.

Due to the pandemic, shoppers were stocking up on these nonperishable items.

It’s like what happens when a major hurricane heads toward our state

Bread and milk disappear from grocery stores.

Grocers report a new surge in staples-buying already could lead to scarcity.

Now, 5 months into the pandemic, the stock is recovering, according to market researchers.

But food industry sources say we are already in hurricane season, and that drives shoppers to over-buy.

A strong demand for baking ingredients and paper towels has made it tough for manufacturers to produce them fast enough.

During the peak shopping spree at the end of March, stores ran out of 13% of their items on average.

Now, roughly 10% of items remain out of stock, compared with a normal range of 5% to 7%.

Leaving shelves 90% full for 6 months would cost the supermarket industry $10 billion in lost revenue.

Shopper surveys show that if you can’t find what you are looking for, you will try a different store.