How Has The Supply Chain Crisis Affected The Food Industry?

The supply chain crisis brought about by the COVID 19 pandemic has affected every industry, including the food industry. Shipping companies play a pivotal role in getting all types of perishable goods to the grocery store. Of course, the goods have to be available in the first place. Learn more about the supply chain crisis and how it is affecting what is on the grocery shelves.

What Happened?

There are a lot of commentaries out there about the supply chain shortages and a lot of confusion that is swirling around because of the comments. The fact is, we are moving toward a much more normal level of operation right now, but it was a rough go of things for a little while there.

There are a few different things that were happening at once that slowed down the supply chain and caused widespread shortages. First, many of our goods come from overseas locations that had different COVID rules than the U.S., which disrupted the flow of goods. A shipping company in China may have been ordered to close down while the U.S. was back to business.

You may have heard about the dockworker issues at the ports. Vaccine mandates were an issue, and there were not enough workers to unload the goods when they came in. Many workers were refusing to get the vaccine or were just unable to. Now that problem has seemed to be resolved. While the supply chain is getting back to normal, we may still see some shortages for a little while longer.

People Are Still Getting Sick

You may know that a shipping company has the right tools to preserve perishable foods, and you may also be aware that dry ice and insulated packaging are part of the process. You are not likely aware of how many people it takes to get chicken and other goods to the grocery store.

Produce and other foods take an entire team of people to make it from the producer to the user. If the farmer comes down with COVID and so does his farmhands, that is going to prevent chickens from making it to the processing point. If the processing point has an outbreak, it is going to shut them down. If the shipping company has an outbreak, that will shut that part of the supply chain down.

However, things are improving as the infection rates slow down. With the right shipping company on hand, the shelves will be fully stocked before you know it.