Tyson Foods, one of the top meat processing companies in the nation, suspended operations last week at an Iowa plant that was critical to the nation’s pork supply. Last weekend, the company bought a full page advertisement in multiple newspapers with a message from the company chairman that issued a warning.
“The food supply chain is breaking,” Chairman John Tyson said in the advertisement.
Tyson Foods warns that millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain, meaning a limited amount of products in grocery stores.
Local meat wholesalers like Ford Brothers in West Valley worry that publishing ads like what Tyson did could send shoppers into a panic.
“I can’t say (the supply chain is) breaking,” Mark Strub, Ford Brothers President, said. “I’m not saying we’re going to be a little tight on things right now. All the product coming in, we might be shorted a bit, but we’re getting it out there.”
READ MORE: Tyson Foods Idles largest pork plant as virus slams industry (April 22)
Ford Brothers lists Tyson Foods as one of its products. However, Strub said that just because Tyson is having difficulties with its plants does not mean every single other client of theirs will run into the same problem.
Area grocers like Market in the Square hope that the damaged supply chain will only have a short-term impact on sales and stock.
“We are noticing that the prices are dramatically going up,” Brian Kusmierski, owner of the market, said. “They’re saying the supply chain is broken but the only part of the supply chain that is broken is the actual harvesting and processing of the product.”
He said that he is optimistic that the damage to the supply chain will last for only a short period of time. Kusmierski anticipates that anyone who suddenly wants to stock up on meat will run into the same issue they had with the toilet paper controversy.
“They had a lot of product at their house that they really didn’t need and they were working it off over the past five or six weeks,” he said. “I would say the same thing with meat...Poultry is going to be okay. It’s the pork and beef that is slowing down a bit.”
READ MORE: Virus is expected to reduce meat selection and raise prices
A spokeswoman for Tops told WBEN that fresh meat supplies are tightening, which is also impacting frozen and processed meats.
Coronavirus is impacting meat supply across the country, but we do not expect to see a shortage of meat proteins available to our customers. Although we may not have every product cut or variety available for the next few weeks, we are working hard to source all the product we can to ensure our customers have plenty of options in our meat department. We are confident supply will stabilize as time goes on. Until then, we will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments to our sourcing strategy as necessary. Our seafood and frozen foods departments also offer great protein options during these short-term supply challenges.