Good Lifestyle

As we closed the year of unprecedented grocery shortages caused by the pandemic, the question of whether 2021 will bring as empty shelves become even more urgent. If some shortages are still expected, what products are particularly at risk of getting out of stocks?

Responses can lead to food manufacturers and retailers have learned from the tumultuous year and if problems causing shortage can now be better planned.

On fronts, we are much better than we were at the beginning of the pandemic. For one, food companies are better informed in products likely to be on demand in cash and transport retail channels. For another, they updated the manufacturing for the food services sector with a focus on manufacturing for retail and haveincreased these capacities significantly.

Another significant improvement over last year is the way in which some companies have been able to increase the protection of their workers, prevent labor shortages and additional delays in production such as those. we assistedthrough the meat industry.

"Manufacturers have engaged creative solutions," says Rick Williams, Business Partner toJPG Resources, a food and beverage consulting company based in Battle Creek, MICH. To put the distance between workers, to pod training where people do not interact with their team and narcotics, some companies have been able to break the shoulder work on the shoulder. Environments on their production floors, he explains.

But some of the supply chain factors are always difficult to control and remain unpredictable. Being able to predict the right amount of stock of certain products or if a shortage of certain raw materials, such as aluminum, persist is a high order, even for the largest companies.

Because of this, food brands and epicators play as safe as possible about their best sellers and retire some of the least popular items. So 2021 may not be the year empty shelves, but it will be a year of less variety.

Although the experts predict, we will not necessarily deal with the extent of the shortages we found last year, where certain brands and categories of whole articles have disappeared from the shelves for weeks, it can still be 'Take a major availability of the grocery store throughout the year.

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You may have noticed that the variety of grocery shelves has declined since the beginning of the pandemic. On the one hand, companies are more strategic on the products they hierarchize at a time when their production capacity is too limited for explosive demand.

On the other hand, the pandemic forced marks such as Coca-Cola to interrupt products at a faster pace than they would normally do. And the experts are content with food and beverage companies retain pruning their portfolios this year, which means that your favorite cookie, your favorite soup or flavor can be cut off from production.

"The brands will continue with the rationalization of SKUs according to what is calling on the largest segment of the buyers," said David Gottlieb, General Manager of the AmericasTraxA digital company providing AI solutions for retail, which has customers like Coca-Cola and Diageo.

He says that the trend of simplification also seems to be echoed by retailers: "I hear from my clients that retailers say they do not want 12 varieties of toilet paper."

Colleen Wickering, Supply Chain Expert withJPG Resources, accepts that the variety of lyrics is not something you will only see manufacturers, but also retailers. Walmart, for example, considerably reduced their offer to get fucked from its supply chain during the pandemic. The retailer has developed most product categories by keeping only two options for each internal brand and the category # 1 mark, explains Wickening, and this trend is sure to continue this year.

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An increase in home cooking has resulted in an increase in demand for frozen and canned vegetables. But the problem with a product grown seasonally and harvested once a year is that once the supplies have disappeared, you can not simply produce more, says Gus Lebiak, President and COO ofKrased Foods, Grocery wholesaler in New York.

While he says that the availability of some products can be typical this year, he believes that the variety of brands will save the day. "You can not get the brands you want, but I'm sure you'll get something," he said.

Lebiak predicts the availability of household cleaners will not bounce at normal levels for a moment. Clorox, for example, said the demand for their cleaning productsincreased by 500% after the start of the pandemic. Although they have increased production and currently have record numbers of disinfectant wipes, they do not expect the offer to be fully recovered before this summer.

Had your favoriteCoca-cola product or an artisanal beer is not disappeared last year, you can not even be aware that the pandemic has causedMain aluminum shortages.

But beverage companies were not the only ones to deal with problems related to the shortage of raw material.

"This has no reason that companies such as Coca-Cola, but also anyone playing in the available space, then tribute, with their canned meats, everyone had the same problem," said Gottlieb.

Unfortunately, the Ares shortagesalways felt on the food and beverage industrySo we can expect to see the artisanal beer, sodas and all foods come in an aluminum package plunge and availability this year.

On the other hand, some producers are starting to take their product in alternative packaging likea glass WherePlastic.

Since Americans have had to increase their home cooking efforts during the pandemic, pre-cooked food solutions and easy-to-do in a box such as macaroni and frozen cheese and pizzas have become some of the grocery stores. The most popular on the shelves.

But while some of these products on demand have had a fairly stable presence in stores, others have sporadicled sporadically (remember short life.Amy's little kitchen pizza?) According toWickering, "Sophisticated manufacturers have more means and technologies to procure for supply, and you do not see as many shortages as a result of that."

However, for small manufacturers where this change requires a larger investment and a greater lifting, we can expect to see supply gaps. "Miracle Whipp or Mayonnaise ... It's rare that there would be a shortage at this point," she says. Packs of precooked rice, however? "You can hardly find them on the shelves again," she says.

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