Supply Chain Woes DEEPEN as Stores STRUGGLE to Restock

The supply chain woes are deepening as America’s food supplies are edging towards collapse due to the WuFlu and its variants from the “vaccine,” labor shortages which were caused by Biden’s “vax” mandates, and a plethora of other issues that are greatly affecting production.

Analysts and executives working in the food industry say that the current supply chain is far worse than when the virus first made an appearance two years ago, and the shortages are only looking to get worse as people who are taking the vax aren’t making it into work due to poor health.

A big problem is the vax mandates and that includes Canada’s radical vax mandates, where truckers are unable to leave Canada or enter the United States if they are not fully vaccinated.

Daniel Fabricant, President and CEO of Natural Products Association said: “Vaccine and testing mandates will only slow delivery times and drive up costs for consumers, retailers and manufacturers and damage the ability to keep products on store shelves that consumers have relied on to stay healthy for the past 20 months. We don’t need the vaccine mandate when the country is already plagued by concerns of rising inflation and product availability.”

There seems to be no end in sight, as experts have warned this could continue for the next few weeks or possibly stretching into months as the damage that has been done for the past few years, is going to be felt for at least the foreseeable future.

A produce manager, Eddie Quezada, who works at a Stop & Shop in Northport, New York, said the omicron wave I’m the post-vaccinated is causing more staffing shortages in an already stretched industry. Quezada said at least 1 in 5 of his staff have caught omicron this January.

Quezada also said that he is having huge issues trying to source goods for his store, thanks to truckers and delivery personnel being laid off or getting infected. Sometimes only receiving half of his orders. “There is a domino effect in operations,” he said.

The owner of several Piggly Wiggly franchises in Georgia and Alabama, Keith Milligan, said that he has at least one third of his staff who organize and load products, were sick with covid in the first week of January.

Milligan said he is finding it increasingly difficult to keep food stocked up, due to staff shortages, including frozen vegetables and canned biscuits.

Some expected the supply chain issues to be recovered by now, but unfortunately, that isn’t happening and CEO of Albertsons, Vivek Sankaran said “Omicron has put a bit of a dent on that,” he said. He expects more supply challenges to pop up over the next month or so.

Stock levels of food products are down a whopping 86 percent from normal at American retailers, according to market research – last summer, stocks were around 90 percent normal.

Another industry that is being dealt yet another huge blow, is the restaurant industry, who after months of lockdowns and silly restrictions, are barely making ends meet and now, with not being able to even stock their kitchens, some may find themselves closing their doors permanently.

CEO Chris Kempczinski said operating hours at McDonald’s locations around the country are now 10 percent shorter than before the pandemic.

Starbucks also said they will be modifying hours for nearly 9000 of their stores in the U.S, due to staff illness and concerns over customer and worker safety.

“We will always make proactive decisions that prioritize the health and well-being of our customers and our partners,” said Starbucks in an email. The company warned that customers may experience a lack of specific products, a slowdown in mobile ordering and reduced payment options due to staffing shortages.

Jose Cil, CEO of Restaurant Brands International, which manages several fast-food chains like Popeyes and Burger King. “We saw about an average of one-hour reduction in operating hours at Popeyes during this quarter relative to pre-pandemic levels.”