Grocery chains are stocking up on certain commodities, as well as holiday items, in anticipation of a second wave of the pandemic, and their processor suppliers are struggling to keep up.
Food retailers are stockpiling items months instead of weeks in advance, the Wall Street Journal reports. Much of this encompasses cleaning supplies and sanitizer, but stockpiling is also going on for holiday items like turkeys and hams, other seasonal items, and pantry staples like soup.
“We started talking about Thanksgiving in June. That’s earlier than we ever have,” Chris Testa, president of United Natural Foods, told the Journal, explaining why his stores were laying in supplies of items like cranberry sauce and herbal tea.
Stores are trying not to be caught short during an expected second wave of the pandemic that has already killed more than 200,000 Americans. Reported cases are rising, and they’re expected to go up as the flu season arrives and schools and public accommodations start filling up again.
Processors are feeling the effects of expanded demand. Major companies like Hormel Foods, General Mills, Coca-Cola and Campbell Soup report low inventories for some center-store mainstay products like soup and cake mixes – a problem that could worsen if a second wave of COVID infections devastates their workforces.
