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Meat 'shortage?' Depends who you ask in Buffalo

Supermarkets may have less to offer in coming days and weeks, but a chain of butcher shops says they will have plenty unless people panic.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Industry experts are warning that meat shortages could soon be at hand, after several processing plants have shut down due to concerns about coronavirus. However, the impact locally is being debated.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen meat processing plants nationwide had been forced to close. At one of them, operated by Smithfield Foods, nearly 800 employees tested positive for COVID-19, while at another local authorities stepped in to close the plant when workers complained that social distancing measures were not being employed.

In Delaware, a large poultry plant had to kill 2 million chickens that will never reach store shelves, because they didn’t have the workers on hand to process them.

Where’s The Beef?

“Red meat might be in good supply, but there is going to be a shortage, particularly on pork and pork products, as well as some poultry,” said Burt Flickinger, a grocery store industry analyst with Strategic Resources.

“But it’s not going to be as bad as the paper shortage,” he said, recalling the panic buying and the lack of available restock for toilet paper, paper towels, and other products that marked the beginning of the pandemic in the U, S.

2 On your Side visited several local grocery stores on Tuesday and noticed that in some of them, the meat supply did seem to be dwindling.

In an email a spokesperson for Tops Markets confirmed, “We are definitely seeing fresh meat supplies tightening, which is also having an impact on frozen and processed meat (cold cuts, bacon, hot dogs, sausage, etc...) but the supplier relationships we have built has allowed us to maintain consistent with the items most sought after by our shoppers. We are working hard every day to secure product into our stores, quickly."

Meanwhile, Wegmans sent an official statement reading: "Coronavirus is impacting meat supply across the country, but we do not expect to see a shortage of meat proteins available to our customers. Although we may not have every product cut or variety available for the next few weeks, we are working hard to source all the product we can to ensure our customers have plenty of options in our meat department. We are confident supply will stabilize as time goes on. Until then, we will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments to our sourcing strategy as necessary. Our seafood and frozen foods departments also offer great protein options during these short-term supply challenges."

Neither store directly answered our question as to whether they are contemplating limits on what consumers can purchase should there be a meat shortage.

At Dash’s Markets, manager Mark Mahoney says they haven’t seen a shortage yet, but noted that when customers hear of a potential shortage, whether the reports are accurate or not, it changes their shopping habits.

He told WGRZ-TV that meat could end up in short supply if those customers start panic shopping, and buying everything available, and that there could be price increases as well if demand becomes high enough.

Mahoney also noted that meat supplies sometimes have two supply chains, one directed at retail outlets and the other directed at restaurants, and schools. With the latter closed throughout much of the nation, much of that product has been sent to stores.

“We have had some of the wholesalers call us to say they have product normally sold to restaurants asking us if we can move it and in some cases, we have,” he said.

With restaurants closed except for takeout locally, Mahoney also predicted many consumers will be seeking choice cuts of meat in the next week in order to prepare a special meal for Mother's Day, and that demand will increase as the weather warms and Western New Yorkers seek to fire up their outdoor grills.

We Have Plenty

Federal Meats, which operates nine butcher shops in the Buffalo area, says it has plenty of meat on hand and does not expect a shortfall.

“I talk to our suppliers every day,” said Tom Benzin who manages all nine stores. “I don’t see any great shortage. We’ve got pork deliveries coming tomorrow. I talked to our supplier in Omaha as far as beef and they’re killing just like they've been killing for the last two months… about 2,500 head a day, which is their maximum.”

Benzin also believes that Tyson Foods, by taking out full page ads in national newspapers claiming the supply chain was “breaking,” didn’t help matters.

“I think they misspoke,” said Benzin.  

Benzin agrees, however, that with reports in the national media about a potential meat shortage, some shoppers are apt to stock up, leaving others in the cold.

“I get it and I understand it,” said Benzin. “But people don’t need to panic. We’re stacked from one rack to the next one with beef in our stores and we don’t have a problem. We have plenty of chicken, and while there may be some upset in the pork supply we have it in our stores today, we’ll have it tomorrow, and we’ll have it next week."

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