Stressed, not Broken Food Supply Chain

Good piece in Supermarket News.  Been following closely, and my observations are that though the shelves are less full, and variety may have been hit, there is still lots to buy..

Supply chain is not broken — but it’s definitely stressed, says Abe Eshkenazi
CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management shares his thoughts on the U.S. food supply chain in the coronavirus crisis
By Michael Browne  SMN| May 12, 2020

After a two-week period in which one of the nation’s largest meat processing companies declared the food supply chain “broken,” President Trump declared that meat plants must stay open and retailers began imposing limits on meat purchases, Supermarket News sat down for a Zoom interview with Abe Eshkenazi, CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) to get some perspective on the issue of food supply amid coronavirus in the U.S. Chicago-based ASCM is the largest non-profit association for supply chain companies around the world.

“From our perspective, we don't think the food supply chain is broken as much as it is stressed,” Eshkenazi said. “When you take out labor, one of the most significant aspects of the supply chain, you're going to have a significant disruption within the supply chain. So I think we can understand that from Tyson Foods’ perspective, they're dealing with a new and unforeseen break in their services. But I think we also have seen that it takes time for supply chains to respond. So I don't know that they're as much broken as they are stressed right now for the food supply chain.”  ... "