Can The Food Supply Chain Handle Another Ketchup Shortage?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many issues with the supply chain, and these issues caused a ketchup shortage. Kraft Heinz has been struggling significantly with these shortages, causing a trickle-down effect on restaurants.

Voice of B2B, Daniel Litwin, talked with Christine Cochran, Executive Director of Grain Foods Foundation (GFF) and Ryan Richard, Vice President, Community Engagement of GS1 US on Marketscale TV. The trio talked about these issues and how the supply chain can be built with resiliency.

Long John Silver’s and Texas Roadhouse are among the restaurants seeing shortages of ketchup. Numerous other small and large eateries are also having issues with Kraft Heinz, as there have been issues with their production.  LJS reportedly had to spend an extra $500,000 on ketchup packets because they couldn’t use bottles on tables. Texas Roadhouse turned to wholesalers due to Kraft Heinz not being able to meet demand.

“It’s definitely driving the cost up, as that’s what we’re seeing out there in the industry,” Richard said.

This isn’t the first time restaurants have seen issues with the supply chain. One prominent example being the 2018 E-Coli scare in romaine lettuce. Heinz is increasing production up 25 percent to fight this shortage, which is around an extra 12 billion ketchup packets a year.

“We always look at our supply chains as agile, but what this is really demonstrating is how fragile these supply chains really are,” Richard said.

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