With many experts forecasting another spike of the coronavirus this winter, many grocery giants and food companies are beginning their stockpiling now. This past spring when the world initially lockdowned, food and sanitation supplies saw unexpected and unprepared for shortages. This time around though the companies do not plan to get caught off guard. Companies are amassing extreme inventory numbers in their warehouses so that when people hunker down this winter, they will not run out of vital food and sanitation products. Many executives, however, do not believe the demand will be as high this winter as it was in March, citing that mass panic led to panic buying.
The biggest issue many of these food and retail companies face is the possibility of their supply chain workers getting infected. This issue devastated the meat industry earlier in the year as large factories were shut down due to infections. Their hope is with extra inventory and preparation, they can weather the storm once again. Due to the virus and this fear of coming up short in goods, many companies are planning to move from in-time inventory management that has dominated the industry for decades. Instead, it is more favorable for them to be overprepared, especially in the time of crisis. I wonder if this change in inventory build-up will stick with the industry for years to come, or if it is simply a temporary solution to a (hopefully) temporary problem.
5 comments:
Indeed, a spike during the winter is very much probable or maybe even inevitable. Not only because of holidays (thanksgiving, christmas, etc.) where people spend time together in close contact but also simply because of weather conditions which will not always allow for people to effectively social distance. Also, travel is going to reoccur more frequently I believe and all of these factors will definetely impact the number of covid cases which of course affects other areas. As for the food industry, I think that an increase in supply will be necessary. No one wants those empty shelves again, and a good preparation is needed so that the industry won't be deeply affected as it previously was but also to protect the lives of essential workers who put themselves at risk as they work in times of crisis with panic buying and shortages. It will be better for the industry to be overprepared than to face the same issues as it did back in March if a second wave of the virus were to hit us during the winter.
I am curious if the food industry will be able to provide as much as they have in the past during the pandemic. I know the meat industry took a huge hit, but will many of the food factories have to shut down during or after holiday season with a potential high amount of COVID cases? I know more precautions are in place, yet that still hasn't completely stopped the problem. Even if the food industry has enough food stockpiled for right now and the up-coming winter, there may be a shortage in the spring if the winter brings a lot of COVID cases.
I feel like this would be something they would need to do for a couple of years or maybe more, but this would indeed be a temporary change. The reason being for that is that when would be a vaccine widely available to all people, once we get there, and it is widely available to all, from there onwards, they should start shifting back to their normal inventory method, as they would no more need to have excess inventory, but this also varies from company to company. As for retail, they would have to have the inventory available for a shorter period compared to a different company, for example pharmaceutical.
I feel like the inventory build up will be more drastic into this coming winter and into the beginning of next year. There are so many uncertainties right now and into the near future with possible factory shutdowns or limited number of workers available due to sickness. I think this is definitely a temporary issue to fill shelves when people stockpile and then companies will see how demand changes in the future. I think inventory levels will slowly retreat back to normal, otherwise inventory expenses will be too high for companies to still maximize profit.
As Delaware moved up into the red zone again (but back down now I believe) I think the spike is definitely happening, especially in college towns, right as we all prepare to return home again for the holiday season. We will then give it to our families and they still have to work right now or go out and about since we are not in lockdown still, therefore cases will start to go up again. I think it is good that companies are preparing ahead of time because I do believe we will have to shut down again. This brings up the question for me that I think many are thing, will we be able to return to campus after break? When we will all probably be exposed?
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