Food Engineering logo
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • NEWS
  • PRODUCTS
  • TOPICS
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • MEDIA
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
  • RESOURCES
  • EMAGAZINE
  • SIGN UP!
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • NEWS
  • Latest Headlines
  • Manufacturing News
  • People & Industry News
  • Plant Openings
  • Recalls
  • Regulatory Watch
  • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
  • New Plant Products
  • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
  • Alternative Protein
  • Automation
  • Cannabis
  • Cleaning | Sanitation
  • Fabulous Food Plants
  • Food Safety
  • Maintenance Strategies
  • OEE
  • Packaging
  • Sustainability
  • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
  • Plant Construction Survey
  • Plant of the Year
  • Sustainable Plant of the Year
  • State of Food Manufacturing
  • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • White Papers
  • EVENTS
  • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
  • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
  • eNewsletter
  • Custom Content & Marketing Services
  • FE Store
  • Government Links
  • Industry Associations
  • Market Research
  • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
  • eMagazine
  • Archive Issue
  • Advertise
Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
Manufacturing News

Manufacturing News

COVID-19 hits meat and beverage hard

Report tracks how plants closures, shortages impact retail shelves and industry's future stability

By Wayne Labs, Senior Contributing Technical Editor
states with meat slaughtering facilities

States with a majority of slaughtering facilities in the U.S. faced several worker shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chart courtesy of Resilience360/Meatinstitute.org

July 29, 2020

Most consumers have seen the results of COVID-19 when attempting to purchase meat at the local grocery—high prices and limits on purchases. 

On average, meat processing and packaging plants were closed for about 11 days, with 44% of all closures lasting up to 14 days and 28% lasting 15 days or more, according to a report, “The COVID-19 Pandemic Disrupts Food and Beverage Supply Chains in the U.S.,” from the Resilience360 supply chain platform. The most affected plants are owned by Tyson Foods, JBS, Hormel and Cargill, located in leading meat processing states: Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois. 

Resilience360 predicts, monitors and mitigates supply chain disruptions—both man-made and natural, including hurricanes, cyberattacks, labor strikes and protests.

As a result of COVID-19 disruptions, the meat industry could face losses of up to $20 billion. The industry has seen more than 20,000 workers become infected, and the downward spiral of purchases by restaurants and schools has further hurt the industry. The related plant closures have pushed wholesale prices up and decreased livestock prices, which began to normalize in mid-May.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices jumped 2.6% in April, making it the largest one-month increase since 1974. Beef prices reportedly increased by 3.3%, pork by 3% and chicken by 5.8%. Processed meat, such as hot dogs, saw a 5.7% increase.

Meats were not the only product area affected, the Resilience360 report says. Beverage and food manufacturers have also been exposed to other challenges stemming from the pandemic. For example, a shortage of carbon dioxide due to lowered ethanol production levels resulted in higher CO2 rates and associated disruption to beer and soda manufacturers. CO2 is a byproduct of the ethanol process, which also experienced labor interruptions.

Products most affected by the CO2 decrease in availability include beer, soda and seltzer, as well as fresh and preserved foods from manufacturers who rely on a steady supply of CO2. The study suggests that CO2 production is likely to fall further to 50%, following an already recorded 20% reduction. To cope with the CO2 shortage, manufacturers had to increase on-site storage capacity, find alternatives such as nitrogen or switch to other available suppliers, which have also led to higher costs and unplanned supply challenges.


Back in business … sort of

While a majority of meat processing and packaging plants have already opened and resumed operations at reduced capacity, mid- to long-term impacts can be expected, says the report. Temporary food shortages, especially for meat and other processed products and beverages, are likely but remain open to a rapid recovery with operations up and running again. Price increases and limited selection in supermarkets are likely to be seen in the coming weeks. The industry is likely to face long-term challenges in neutralizing the disruptions experienced during the pandemic.

Overall, the U.S. domestic supply chain demonstrated resiliency during the worst of the pandemic in the second quarter, albeit with reverberations in retail and occupational health and safety areas. The long-term effects, however, remain to be seen beyond the second quarter economic results and the retail impacts. The possibilities for a future disruption of food supply chains remain in the event of a COVID-19 resurgence.

The study also points out that logistical bottlenecks may still persist, which means shippers will have to be ready to adapt to changes internationally.

For more information, visit www.resilience360.dhl.com.

KEYWORDS: meat processing retail Supply Chain worker safety

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Wayne labs 200px
Wayne Labs has more than 30 years of editorial experience in industrial automation. He served as senior technical editor for I&CS/Control Solutions magazine for 18 years where he covered software, control system hardware and sensors/transmitters. Labs ran his own consulting business and contributed feature articles to Electronic Design, Control, Control Design, Industrial Networking and Food Engineering magazines. Before joining Food Engineering, he served as a senior technical editor for Omega Engineering Inc. Labs also worked in wireless systems and served as a field engineer for GE’s Mobile Communications Division and as a systems engineer for Bucks County Emergency Services. In addition to writing technical feature articles, Wayne covers FE’s Engineering R&D section.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
to unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    Global Organic Food & Beverage Market to Grow

    With a CAGR of 12.07%, Bonafide Research estimates this...
    People & Industry News
  • skilled MEP worker

    Predicting Food and Beverage Manufacturing Trends for 2024

    The two words that should be kept in mind are labor and...
    Automation
    By: Derrick Teal
  • cleaning and sanitation

    The basics of cleaning and sanitation in food plants

    Sanitation maintains or restores a state of cleanliness...
    Cleaning | Sanitation
    By: Richard F. Stier
close

1 COMPLIMENTARY ARTICLE(S) LEFT

Loader

Already a Registered User? Sign in now.

Subscribe For Free!
  • eMagazine
  • eNewsletter
  • Online Registration
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Customer Service

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions May 2025

OT Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Food Manufacturing Facilities

OT Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Food Manufacturing Facilities

Understanding Impacts of OT Cybersecurity Events in Food Manufacturing

Understanding Impacts of OT Cybersecurity Events in Food Manufacturing

Food Plant Openings and Expansions April 2025

Food Plant Openings and Expansions April 2025

More Videos

Popular Stories

Vilter IHP in plant

Industrial Heat Pumps: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Now and the Future

FMTE Formed by Four Food Manufacturing Companies

Coalition Unites Europe’s Food Manufacturing Technologies and Equipment Sector

Sanitation worker spraying water

Fighting the Foodborne Bacteria War with Cleaning and Sanitation

CHECK OUT OUR NEW ESSENTIAL TOPICS

Alternative ProteinAutomationCleaning/SanitationFabulous Food Plants

Food SafetyMaintenance StrategiesOEE

PackagingSustainability

Events

June 17, 2025

Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ State of the Cold Chain

Kelley Rodriguez, Editor in Chief of Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, will be joined in this 60-minute webinar by industry experts to help unpack the latest research.

January 1, 2030

Webinar Sponsorship Information

For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com.

View All Submit An Event

Products

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

Recent Advances in Ready-to-Eat Food Technology

See More Products

Plant of the Year

Related Articles

  • COVID-19 and the internet

    What the COVID-19 pandemic can teach us about the internet

    See More
  • Resilience360 tools

    Supply chain lessons learned from COVID-19

    See More
  • Crowded, pre-COVID line

    Automation in the time of COVID-19: An A&E/C perspective

    See More

Related Products

See More Products
  • Functionalized_Carbohydrate.gif

    Functionalizing Carbohydrates for Food Applications

See More Products

Events

View AllSubmit An Event
  • September 19, 2024

    Analyzing the Factors Influencing the Top 100 Food and Beverage Companies

    On Demand Join the editorial staff from FOOD ENGINEERING and Refrigerated & Frozen Foods as they break down the 2024 Top 100 Food and Beverage Companies and discuss the factors affecting this year’s rankings.
  • November 19, 2024

    How the Food Industry Uses Dock Scheduling to Reduce Costs

    On Demand Join us in this exclusive webinar as we delve into how shippers in the food industry are using dock scheduling software to improve their supply chain operations.
View AllSubmit An Event
×

Elevate your expertise in food engineering with unparalleled insights and connections.

Get the latest industry updates tailored your way.

JOIN TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Food Master
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing

Food Engineering logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Food Engineering logo
  • NEWS
    • Latest Headlines
    • Manufacturing News
    • People & Industry News
    • Plant Openings
    • Recalls
    • Regulatory Watch
    • Supplier News
  • PRODUCTS
    • New Plant Products
    • New Retail Products
  • TOPICS
    • Alternative Protein
    • Automation
    • Cannabis
    • Cleaning | Sanitation
    • Fabulous Food Plants
    • Food Safety
    • Maintenance Strategies
    • OEE
    • Packaging
    • Sustainability
    • More
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Plant Construction Survey
    • Plant of the Year
    • Sustainable Plant of the Year
    • State of Food Manufacturing
    • Top 100 Food & Beverage Companies
  • MEDIA
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • FOOD MASTER
  • EVENTS
    • Food Automation & Manufacturing Symposium and Expo
    • Industry Events
  • RESOURCES
    • eNewsletter
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • FE Store
    • Government Links
    • Industry Associations
    • Market Research
    • Classified Ads
  • EMAGAZINE
    • eMagazine
    • Archive Issue
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!