Meat industry in turmoil as prices soar

摘要

The situation with red meat and poultry is rapidly evolving, not unlike most other food and non-food sectors grappling with the unknown amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While a bit late to the food "panic" race, fears of meat shortages are no less real than those of flour, sugar, pasta and other staples seen earlier in the shelter-at-home period, most of which appear to be stabilizing. The meat situation developed under different circumstances than did those of other items, where the shortages mostly were at retail as consumers stocked pantry shelves beyond normal levels and manufacturing and distribution needed time to catch up or redirect shipments from lost foodservice business. There never was a real shortage of food, but the meat situation is different with a bottleneck at the processing level.