Like Monty Python’s famous “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition,” certainly no one expected—at least way back on New Year’s Day 2020—the coronavirus (aka COVID-19) would come out of seemingly nowhere and close down so much of the world’s economy, while inflicting such a great global toll on human lives. But, COVID-19 has tested our industry and its supply chains, and we’re learning about the industry’s resiliency in the process.
A few days after New Year’s, I prepared the 2020 survey questions for this article, thinking we had a pretty good economy during the last year. And we did. There were already supply chain changes on the way, spurred by the market for home deliveries of high-end meal kits and grocery store deliveries (e.g., Giant/Peapod), and with Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, there was a trail to be blazed in home deliveries. Little did we know, however, just how well this new home delivery market concept and the food supply chain in general would be tested as we stayed at home in quarantine.