About a fifth of the Wendy’s American restaurants, around 1,000 locations, had to stop serving hamburgers and other beef-based menu items, in the latest sign of an escalating threat of a national meat shortage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reported.
Wendy’s customers have reported being unable to purchase burgers at restaurants across the nation. As one of the world’s largest hamburger chains that touts its burgers as fresh and never frozen, Wendy’s has confirmed it is experiencing problems with beef suppliers.
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“It is widely known that beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges,” the company told Bloomberg in an email. “However, some of our menu items may be in short supply from time to time at some restaurants in this current environment.”
Wendy’s is working with suppliers to monitor the situation while continuing to make hamburger deliveries two to three times a week to restaurants. The company hopes to minimize the impact on customers and restaurants. Some states have been particularly affected, with restaurants in Ohio, Michigan and New York running extremely low on fresh meat, while other states such as Arizona and Nevada haven’t been hit as badly.
Wendy’s meatless phase is a symptom of a broader slowdown in America’s meat production as thousands of workers in processing plants have fallen sick from COVID-19, and facilities shutter due to fears of further spread of the virus. Nearly a dozen slaughterhouses shuttered last month as a result of employees contracting COVID-19 from being jammed too closely together.
Tyson Foods, one of America’s largest meat producers, said its output of pork is down by 50 percent despite measures it claims it has taken to physically distance workers and ensure the supply of meat. The company recently warned that the “food supply chain is breaking” due to stifled production and distribution of meat in a full page New York Times advertisement.
Over the past month, Tyson has closed three major plants in Iowa and one in Indiana after many employees fell sick from COVID-19. After a spike in infections, its beef-processing operations in Washington state and Nebraska have also shut down.
Wendy’s is more affected by the shortage than other fast-food chains because of its focus on fresh beef. The short outage is only temporary and there could be a quick improvement in supply. Sales trends at Wendy’s have been strong in recent weeks, despite a 16 percent drop in stock value so far this year. Adapting to new health and safety standards amid the pandemic has played a part in keeping sale agile.
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