Coronavirus and Meat Processing Plants

[storewanderer]

How will all this impact the food chain?

Looks like assorted closures at various plants where there have been outbreaks. As expected with meat processing, most of these plants are in remote and not so dense geographic locations that do not have many cases of the virus overall. https://www.beefmagazine.com/beef-quali ... heres-meat

This is what sounds like the biggest one. Smithfield foods (foreign owned, but I'll refrain from saying what country owns it) closing a massive pork plant due to an outbreak at the plant that has impacted about 7% of the plant's employees. https://www.supermarketnews.com/meat/sm ... d-covid-19
Curiously if you look at those outbreaks then total reported cases in SD, this accounts for a significant chunk of the total cases in SD.

[klkla]

(foreign owned, but I'll refrain from saying what country owns it)

Then why even make that snide comment?

[storewanderer]

Nothing snide about it. But it is potentially relevant to the topic. Keep following the money, as it is quite a long trail. Then again, we don't know who has the actual power to make the decision close the plant. If it is management at HQ, if it was threats from the state, or a decision of the US based management.

I have multiple items right now that are made by Smithfield, likely some in that plant. Consumed some yesterday, actually. I suspect all is safe as long as it is cooked fully.

[klkla]

Nothing snide about it. But it is potentially relevant to the topic. Keep following the money, as it is quite a long trail. Then again, we don't know who has the actual power to make the decision close the plant. If it is management at HQ, if it was threats from the state, or a decision of the US based management.

I have multiple items right now that are made by Smithfield, likely some in that plant. Consumed some yesterday, actually. I suspect all is safe as long as it is cooked fully.

I was only joking about the snide remark because by saying 'foreign owned, but I'll refrain from saying what country owns it' you already said it.

I think I agree with what I think your point is, though. Should our largest Pork processor be owned by a totalitarian communist nation that we have had trade friction with for many years? Personally I do not think that is in our best strategic interest.

[mjhale]

Nothing snide about it. But it is potentially relevant to the topic. Keep following the money, as it is quite a long trail. Then again, we don't know who has the actual power to make the decision close the plant. If it is management at HQ, if it was threats from the state, or a decision of the US based management.

I have multiple items right now that are made by Smithfield, likely some in that plant. Consumed some yesterday, actually. I suspect all is safe as long as it is cooked fully.

I was only joking about the snide remark because by saying 'foreign owned, but I'll refrain from saying what country owns it' you already said it.

I think I agree with what I think your point is, though. Should our largest Pork processor be owned by a totalitarian communist nation that we have had trade friction with for many years? Personally I do not think that is in our best strategic interest.

This is just more of the ceding of our nation's supply chain to overseas interests. Manufacturing, prescription meds, this pork processor. Granted the pork production is here in the US. But sorry I just don't think that certain foreign interests care as much as US owned and operated. I wrote a longer post in another tread but the country has lost its interest in itself all in the search for lower and lower prices. Quantity over quality, what stuff you have not the quality of your person determining your "worth". The fact that there has been little to no interest in moving production back to the US as this crisis continues makes me think that the US will just go back to its old ways whenever this is over. Wouldn't it be great if the country said we are going to be patriotic and start by pivoting closed businesses to mass produce the medical supplies we need to outfit our medical processionals at this time? Reopen businesses and put people back to work. I know some of this is going on with distilleries producing hand sanitizer and did GM ever start making the ventilators? But like we do in some many things we get stuck in the way it has always been and sometimes we never learn.

[storewanderer]

I was only joking about the snide remark because by saying 'foreign owned, but I'll refrain from saying what country owns it' you already said it.

I think I agree with what I think your point is, though. Should our largest Pork processor be owned by a totalitarian communist nation that we have had trade friction with for many years? Personally I do not think that is in our best strategic interest.

That was my point. They can pull the string and decide when to close the plant, given that they own it. Of course it is in their interest to run the plant and make money, though. Pork is a pretty major component of the food chain so an interruption like this could impact our historically more than bountiful food supply here. Plus the impact on the farmers who sell their pigs to this plant for processing.

Again I think the reason for the plant closure is perfectly legitimate and I have no problem with the quality of the products under their brand, which I purchase frequently.

It does appear there are issues with this virus spreading very rapidly in "cold room" type facilities like a meat plant. Or a refrigeration portion of a grocery distribution center where dairy and produce are stored. Not sure what the solution here is. But it looks like there will be some noticeable impacts on the food chain in coming months as a result of this.

[TW-Upstate NY]

Can't figure out what's going on with this just yet. Was out shopping this morning for the first time in two weeks and hit both local Price Choppers near me-Gloversville and Johnstown. Gloversville is smaller and (sort-of) an inner city store. Meat looked relatively well stocked and I was able to get a few nice rump roasts. Chicken was sort of interesting though. I usually buy thighs in the family packs but all they had today was mixed drumstick and thigh packs and they put a limit of two on those. Lot of out of stocks (or low stocks) in Gloversville so I had to finish up in the Johnstown location. The store overall was pretty well stocked but the beef was kind of thin with no roasts to be had whatsoever. They had plenty of chicken with no limits. I can't understand how two stores maybe 10 minutes apart could tell such different stories. Johnstown is higher volume vs. Gloversville but yet it was better stocked (it even had some toilet paper) and no limits whatsoever on meat.

[storewanderer]

Can't figure out what's going on with this just yet. Was out shopping this morning for the first time in two weeks and hit both local Price Choppers near me-Gloversville and Johnstown. Gloversville is smaller and (sort-of) an inner city store. Meat looked relatively well stocked and I was able to get a few nice rump roasts. Chicken was sort of interesting though. I usually buy thighs in the family packs but all they had today was mixed drumstick and thigh packs and they put a limit of two on those. Lot of out of stocks (or low stocks) in Gloversville so I had to finish up in the Johnstown location. The store overall was pretty well stocked but the beef was kind of thin with no roasts to be had whatsoever. They had plenty of chicken with no limits. I can't understand how two stores maybe 10 minutes apart could tell such different stories. Johnstown is higher volume vs. Gloversville but yet it was better stocked (it even had some toilet paper) and no limits whatsoever on meat.

I have observed similar with every chain lately. There is no consistency in stock from one location to the next of the same chain. I am seeing on meat a number of overstock situations in one location then the same chain at a location across town out of stock on those very same items. Clearly there are a lot of kinks right now in the ordering and distribution.

Have seen similar on dairy and produce as well. Produce in general seems to be severely overstocked at this time all over (except Safeway NorCal where it is empty-maybe they are lucky as the stores are avoiding the shrink).

[BillyGr]

Can't figure out what's going on with this just yet. Was out shopping this morning for the first time in two weeks and hit both local Price Choppers near me-Gloversville and Johnstown. Gloversville is smaller and (sort-of) an inner city store. Meat looked relatively well stocked and I was able to get a few nice rump roasts. Chicken was sort of interesting though. I usually buy thighs in the family packs but all they had today was mixed drumstick and thigh packs and they put a limit of two on those. Lot of out of stocks (or low stocks) in Gloversville so I had to finish up in the Johnstown location. The store overall was pretty well stocked but the beef was kind of thin with no roasts to be had whatsoever. They had plenty of chicken with no limits. I can't understand how two stores maybe 10 minutes apart could tell such different stories. Johnstown is higher volume vs. Gloversville but yet it was better stocked (it even had some toilet paper) and no limits whatsoever on meat.

I have observed similar with every chain lately. There is no consistency in stock from one location to the next of the same chain. I am seeing on meat a number of overstock situations in one location then the same chain at a location across town out of stock on those very same items. Clearly there are a lot of kinks right now in the ordering and distribution.

Have seen similar on dairy and produce as well. Produce in general seems to be severely overstocked at this time all over (except Safeway NorCal where it is empty-maybe they are lucky as the stores are avoiding the shrink).

Perhaps some of it is how/when deliveries are being made? For instance, those two Price Choppers are fairly close to each other so maybe under normal conditions one truck would deliver to both one after the other, but now with more items needing to be sent they might not be able to fit everything in one truck? So, if they had to have that truck return to Rotterdam for a second load, you might just have hit between trips (that is they went to Johnstown first then returned to get stuff for Gloversville but hadn't made it back to that store yet)?

Or even if it did all come on one truck, they stopped at Johnstown first, so by the time you got to that store it had gotten onto the shelves, where it was still being delivered or packaged when you were in Gloversville?

Could very well be that this happens all the time, just that under more normal situations the stores have enough already on hand to keep things full until the next batch comes in, where now they are simply selling it faster and thus the shelves get empty (or more empty) before they can get more delivered to fill them again.

There may also (at least on the less perishable items) still be a backlog that is trying to catch up. For instance, you might see empty pasta shelves for one brand when there is a sale normally, but you'd never see the entire aisle empty as it was at one point (at least in many stores). So to get it filled to a normal level might take time even if there was plenty of supply, just since the space on any one delivery truck wouldn't be large enough to hold all that plus anything else needed. In many sections these stores were basically like trying to stock a brand new store would be normally, starting from totally empty shelves.