Several major supermarket chains in America have announced limits on how much meat customers can buy, citing pandemic-driven supply chain disruption and the threat of panic buying leaving store coolers empty.
In a “Coronavirus Response” section of its website, Costco said on Monday that customers would be limited to three fresh meat items per purchase.
Albertsons has, in the words of a company spokesperson cited by KGTV, announced that “customer purchases will be limited to two packages of beef, chicken, and pork (this means they can purchase up to six packages of meat—two per commodity).”
Some of the retailers insisted the supply chain stress was limited to several suppliers and that, overall, there was plenty of protein in the pipeline.
“At Kroger, we feel good about our ability to maintain a broad assortment of meat and seafood for our customers because we purchase protein from a diverse network of suppliers,” Kroger spokesperson Erin Rolfes said, WCPO reports. “There is plenty of protein in the supply chain; however, some processors are experiencing challenges.”
An Albertsons spokesperson said the retailer’s move to impose product limits was not due to shortages but to prevent panic buying from impacting product availability on shelves.
“We are not experiencing and do not anticipate any issues with supply or product availability. We did so to prevent panic buying and to ensure more of our customers can find the products they need,” the spokesperson said, according to KGTV.
“The supply is going to tighten up obviously,” Dewey said.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to keep meat plants open and ensure an ample supply amid the pandemic.
“Closure of a single large beef processing facility can result in the loss of over 10 million individual servings of beef in a single day,” Trump noted. “Similarly, under established supply chains, closure of a single meat or poultry processing facility can severely disrupt the supply of protein to an entire grocery store chain.”
Trump, after getting off a call with meatpacking executives on Wednesday, said that thanks to the executive order, “we unblocked some of the bottlenecks.”
Meanwhile, some major meat plants that closed due to the outbreak have begun resuming operations.
Smithfield Foods reopened its hog slaughterhouse in Monmouth, Illinois, on Saturday, after a weeklong shutdown, while the company’s facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, took its first steps toward reopening Monday after being shuttered for over two weeks because of an outbreak that infected more than 800 employees.
Arkansas-based Tyson Foods was also resuming “limited production” Monday at its pork processing plant in Logansport, Indiana, where nearly 900 employees had tested positive for the virus.
The JBS pork plant in Worthington, Minnesota—about an hour east of Smithfield’s South Dakota plant—planned a partial reopening on Wednesday.
Meat-processing workers are particularly susceptible to the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, because they typically stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the line and congregate in crowded locker rooms and cafeterias.
According to a CDC report released Friday, more than 4,900 workers at meat and poultry processing facilities have been diagnosed with the CCP virus, including 20 who died.
The illnesses occurred among 130,000 workers at 115 facilities in 19 states, according to the CDC. Some states didn’t provide data, so the actual count could be higher.
