Virus-related production shutdowns across U.S. lead to meat shortages
The effects of the coronavirus pandemic have moved beyond meat processing plants and are hitting dinner plates.
Several U.S. production plants have been temporarily shuttered in the past two weeks after hundreds of workers were sickened by the virus. That has led to meat shortages, with Wendy’s pulling some burgers off its menus and Costco limiting pork sales. Fake meat companies, meanwhile, are making their moves to capture some of those lost sales.
As of Monday, U.S. beef and pork processing capacity was down 40% from last year, according to Jayson Lusk, head of the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University.
Some meatpacking plants are coming back online after President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week requiring them to stay open. But until they’re back at full capacity, consumers will likely see some shortages and higher prices for beef and pork, Mr. Lusk said. Poultry production has also been impacted, but to a lesser degree.
On Tuesday, the attorneys general for 11 Midwestern states urged the Justice Department to pursue a federal investigation into market concentration and potential price fixing by meatpackers in the cattle industry, pointing out the disparity in the price of live cattle and the retail cost of boxed beef sold to consumers.
“Given the concentrated market structure of the beef industry, it may be particularly susceptible to market manipulation, particularly during times of food insecurity, such as the current COVID-19 crisis,” they wrote.
Just over 1,000 Wendy’s restaurants — or nearly 20% — had no beef items available on their online menus Monday night, according to an analysis by Stephens Inc., an investment bank. Stephens analyst James Rutherford said some states, such as Ohio, Michigan and New York, seemed more impacted than others.
Wendy’s responded that some menu items may be temporarily limited, but it continues to supply its restaurants with beef two to three times a week. The company said it’s trying to limit disruptions to its supplies.
Costco, Sam’s Club, HyVee and Kroger are limiting purchases of meat to avoid panic buying. Kroger Co., which also owns Ralphs and Harris Teeter markets, said it wants to ensure buyers have a broad assortment.
“There is plenty of protein in the supply chain,” Kroger said in a statement.
Empty and underfilled coolers greeted shoppers in the meat department at the Costco in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park on Tuesday morning, one day after the retailer started limiting fresh meat purchases to three items per customer.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Kroger store in suburban Atlanta was limiting purchases to two packages of chicken, two packages of pork or three packages of ground beef at a time.
Marie Livingston left the store with beef stew meat and some other cuts. She accepted the limits as inevitable.
“Ultimately, you had to see it was coming to this,” Ms. Livingston said. “You have to limit the supply so everyone can get some and it’s fair.”