Meat supply takes hit from packing plants shuttered by coronavirus

Shortages on certain cuts of meat are possible in the coming weeks, experts say, now that thousands of workers have been ordered off the job at packing plants across the country.

On Sunday, Smithfield Foods announced the shutdown of its Sioux Falls, S.D., factory where more than 230 employees tested positive for COVID-19. The plant employs 3,700 workers.

“The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," said Kenneth M. Sullivan, Smithfeild's president and chief executive officer.

The company says its operations in Wilson, which employ 600 workers, and Tar Heel, which employ 4,000 workers, will continue processing meat.

Other meat producers, including Tyson, have shut down factories because of positive cases of coronavirus and safety concerns from employees, who have chosen not to report to work.

Rob Handfield, a supply chain management professor at N.C. State, says the entire system will take a hit with fewer workers on the factory floor.

"There will most definitely be a reduction in the normal packages of meat cuts that you would have," said Handfield. "A lot of the processing, like de-boning a chicken, is a manual operation. The company may just send a whole chicken to the store and consumers would have to figure out how to de-bone and skin it themselves."

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While the meat shelves were bare at some stores, there was plenty to chose from at the Carli C's in Garner on Tuesday morning.

Nita Porter picked up several pounds of beef and chicken to feed her family for at least two weeks.

“I have relatives who live in South Carolina and New Jersey. They are saying they can’t find meat at all," Porter said.

Handfield says it could be a few weeks before shoppers see a difference at their local grocer because there's a roughly 30-day supply in regional distribution centers and another month's worth of meat in cold storage.

"They are starting to deplete the inventories at these distribution centers and cold storage, and the processing plants are not keeping up because workers are not coming in," Handfield said.

Shoppers say they are paying close attention to the supply because they are still uncertain about how long the coronavirus will keep them at home.

“You don’t know how long this is going to be," said Porter. "It could go until some time in May.”

Handfield anticipates meat prices will remain stable because the overall demand of meat continues to be down due to restaurants either closing or reducing service to curbside customers.

Smithfield Foods says they have implemented several safety measure to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in all its buildings; including thermal scanning of employees, plexiglass barriers, hand sanitizing stations, more protective gear, enhanced cleaning and disinfecting of the plant and boosting health benefits.

Employees at the Wilson plant claimed last week that two workers tested positive for COVID-19. The company has declined to confirm the infections, citing employee privacy.

The Bladen County Health Department says the Smithfield Foods plant in Tar Heel has not reported any COVID-19 infections.