Full screen recommended.
"Empty Shelves, Severe Shortages And Explosive
Prices Are Ahead In The Winter Of 2022"
by Epic Economist
"Winter is only a few weeks away and the overall mood of the nation is already becoming increasingly sour. It feels like food supply chain problems never seem to end. Unfortunately, millions of Americans will soon have even more reasons to be stressed about. As we head into the colder months, a historically bad harvest season means that our store shelves will become emptier than they already are, shortages will become more widespread, and prices of many food products are about to explode in many supermarkets all across the country. We must take this crisis seriously, folks. More disruptions continue to emerge in our food systems, and this is going to cause a lot of pain and suffering for our population.
This holiday season is expected to significantly exacerbate the shortages we’re seeing at grocery stores. According to the Wall Street Journal, new disruptions are popping up every week as grocers battle supply chain challenges that some executives said are “as bad as what they saw in spring 2020 when hoarding left holes in stocks of some staples”.
“Industry insiders say new problems are arising weekly, driven by shortages of labor and commodities. Groceries remain scarce as some food companies anticipate product stockouts lasting into 2023. The supply of a wide range of goods is running short and logistical challenges are compounding for many retailers,” the report exposed.
At this point, grocery stores are rushing to ensure supplies and ordering more food like crazy. But there are so many companies trying to do the same at the same time that even the largest U.S. food distributors simply cannot fulfill all of the orders. A recent Bloomberg report reveals that distribution giant Sysco, North America’s largest wholesale food distributor, is turning away customers in some areas where demand is exceeding capacity. The company is “reporting difficulties in fulfilling orders as shortages weigh on the supply chain.”
Sysco CEO Kevin Hourican says people should brace for another round of price increases and that food inflation is about to soar even higher: “The prices for key goods such as chicken, pork and meat are climbing amid tight supplies. And if intermediate and final wholesale prices are rising, just wait until they emerge on the consumer side,” he said.
The problem of widespread food shortages is a result of many failures in the chain of supply, and one of the most recent catalysts to this crisis is the ongoing diesel crisis, which has prices soaring and reserves rapidly drying up.
The executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, Mike Steenhoek, says that after visiting a number of farmers, the consensus is that diesel costs are hurting their profit margins, as well as their day-to-day operations, and they also warn that our domestic agricultural production has been particularly hard hit by this crisis over the past year, causing harvests to fall well below expectations.
In fact, the USDA just reported that levels of corn, wheat, and soybeans hit their lowest level in almost a decade. Similarly, a new exposé released by The Guardian uncovered that U.S. farmers experienced some of the toughest farming conditions in decades as a once-in-a-millennium megadrought combined with higher fertilizer and diesel prices, and resulted in losses exceeding $2 billion.
On top of all that, food inflation is predicted to hit between 15% and 20% this winter. Data from the American Farm Bureau Federation shows grocery bills are rising at a much faster pace than what consumers can pay, with 76% of Americans saying their family has changed how they buy food due to the relentless rise in prices.
The era that is ahead of us is going to be devastating for our nation. If you don’t have a plan yet to survive the challenges we’re about to face, you should probably make one now because, as the experts said, more problems “are arising weekly”."
Comments here:
No comments:
Post a Comment