During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, massive shifts showed up throughout the meat and poultry industry. One of the significant areas with drastic transformation was the supermarket retail landscape across the United States.
After stay-at-home orders were announced in the spring, consumers rushed to local grocery stores to stock up on supplies, including meat products. Although there are fewer restrictions for people now, it will still be a record year for retail consumption. To get a comprehensive look at this system, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal of San Antonio-based 210 Analytics, provided an overview of the 2020 trends. Speaking about the pandemic surges in retail, Roerink said, “I don’t think any one of us has ever seen that. The only time you see extreme sales spikes like this is leading up to blizzards and hurricanes, but typically people do not stock up on fresh meat, but center-store items instead. Additionally, those spikes are very regional. The pandemic caused never before seen spikes across the country and across all departments and temperature zones.” Read more