Having trouble finding what you want at the grocery store or a restaurant? Here’s why
Random shortages at stores, restaurants, gas stations and more are a continuation of COVID-19 pandemic supply chain issues that is stressing businesses, customers and workers.
Sometimes, the reason is directly tied to COVID, as new cases primarily fueled by the unvaccinated are rising, thanks to the Delta variant.
More often, a labor shortage is taking hold behind the scenes in the supply chain and much of the service industry.
While restaurants, for now, are taking the brunt of it, more people have taken to social media in recent weeks to describe encountering empty gas pumps or restaurants out of random items.
Some in the restaurant industry have gone public with supply issues.
Tonee Giacalone owns Rise and Shine Cabaret Cafe in Parkland, near Pacific Lutheran University south of Tacoma. She posted about supply shortages on Instagram and said ensuring she has what she needs to serve the restaurant’s vegetarian and vegan food — much of it organic — has been “just pandemonium.”
“I just never know if my deliveries are ever actually going to come,” she said in a phone call Wednesday. “It’s resulted in us running out of things constantly.”
That stress is coming to a boiling point, in some cases.
On Tuesday, workers fed up with what they described as rude customers on top of short staff and supply shortages staged an impromptu one-day walkout at the Burger King on Key Peninsula.
The pandemic has made a bad situation worse for food industry suppliers, already facing hiring challenges pre-pandemic along with the rest of the supply chain.
Nationwide, a multi-year truck driver shortage continues, as demand for online retail deliveries exploded and older drivers have opted for retirements. Others were part of the wave of early pandemic layoffs and took unemployment assistance and have either found other work or are still on aid.
Beyond that, any return to work (or lack thereof) has come into question, with some arguing the problems are actually a result of stagnant wages, child care issues and more.
In Pierce County, Workforce Central, which tracks local employment data, noted that May’s report showed there remained 18,800 fewer people in the workforce compared with pre-pandemic levels.
In short, there hasn’t been a stampede for people seeking the delivery jobs.
This has led to delays in deliveries to everyone, including gas stations and airports, hospitals, senior facilities, basically anyone subscribed to service deliveries.
Jim Tonjann is senior director of dining services with Franke Tobey Jones in Tacoma. He told The News Tribune via email that food delivery issues have been happening for some time.
“For the most part, the past 2 months have been the worst as far as deliveries go,” he wrote.
He said that Franke Tobey Jones has seen “both late, up to 8 hours, and canceled or postponed deliveries up to 3 days from some companies. This is mostly from the larger food distributors,” he noted, such as Sysco.
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health told The News Tribune in a statement that while its current supplies are adequate, “we are seeing disruptions in supply and transportation including more limited product availability and some delivery delays.”
“Just like restaurants are short of workers, our (restaurant suppliers) and truck distributors are running 20-25 percent short on truckers, and it’s starting to hit,” said Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the Washington Hospitality Association, in a phone interview Wednesday with The News Tribune.
From what he’s heard from restaurants, many suppliers are adjusting order minimums, which can impact smaller restaurants more as they may depend more on smaller, more frequent orders.
“I’m hearing everything from 25 to 15 case minimums per drop,” he said. “And so if you’re below that, they’re trying to consolidate, or deliver less often or maybe even flat out dropping the customer.”
AN UPENDED SYSTEM
Food distributor Sysco is putting a pause on some of its deliveries. The company delivers to restaurants and other commercial kitchens.
The company told The News Tribune in a statement: “Sysco regrets that we have had to delay or pause service for a limited number of customers in various locations. This is mainly due to unprecedented labor shortages in the industry.”
It added: ”We are aggressively recruiting delivery partners and warehouse associates, and our goal is to restore service to our impacted customers as soon as possible.”
Sysco’s clients in the health care industry and education customers “will receive the highest priority for deliveries on regularly scheduled delivery days during this time,” it said.
“We expect this to be a temporary situation.”
“We are scheduled for two deliveries from Sysco per week,” Tonjann of Franke Tobey Jones told The News Tribune. “The first order we try to get all the items we need for the next 10 to 12 days if possible, then use the second delivery for items that were maybe out of stock or items to replenish our perishable items.”
He added: “We are finding that our smaller vendors for milk, produce, bread & fresh meat are getting our orders to us on time, but they may not have everything in stock that we had ordered..”
In February, Sysco’s CEO said the company as a whole was down 15,000 workers compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Another distributor also has had to juggle deliveries.
Sara Matheu, director of external communications with Illinois-based US Foods, told The News Tribune via email on Wednesday, “In some instances, we may need to reschedule a delivery within a timeframe more aligned with 24 to 48 hours based on a variety of reasons.”
Others have reported a more dire situation.
A July 27 report in the Chinook Observer said restaurants in the Long Beach Peninsula area were scrambling to find new service providers after US Foods “unexpectedly severed” deliveries there.
COVID TEMPORARILY SHUTS DOWN GROCERY SUPPLIER
The labor shortage is exacerbated by COVID-19.
United Natural Foods Inc., which moved its operations from Tacoma to Centralia in 2019, announced this week the Centralia site would temporarily shut down as it dealt with a COVID-19 outbreak of more than 100 cases.
The shutdown was reported Monday in the Centralia Chronicle. The UNFI distribution site serves 825 grocery stores (primarily independents, smaller chains and Whole Foods) in the region, along with military commissaries.
Jeffery Swanson, media representative for the company, told The News Tribune on Wednesday: “We are leveraging our network of distribution centers as best as possible, and working closely with customers on solutions to their food supplies this week.”
In a news release sent to The News Tribune, UNFI said the shutdown would run through Aug. 7, and that the company was working in conjunction with Lewis County Public Health & Social Services.
“Before returning to work, UNFI will require individuals at its Centralia distribution center to have two negative COVID-19 tests to further mitigate the risk of transmission,” the company said in a release.
“The company has previously hosted on-site vaccination clinics, encourages associates to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine and will continue to promote the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine to its associate base,” it added.
Lewis County has seen just 40 percent of its residents initiate COVID vaccination, with only 36.8 percent fully vaccinated, according to state Department of Health data as of Aug. 2.
Lewis County health officials said not all of the cases involved Lewis County residents. The closure was the first of its kind for UNFI in the pandemic, the Chronicle reported.
RESTAURANTS FENDING FOR THEMSELVES
For restaurants, reliable deliveries have become a make-or-break issue.
Recently, one of Giacalone’s orders from a major supplier was stalled for three weeks, and every time she called to inquire, the company told her it would arrive the following week. They pointed to a driver shortage, she said, and the delivery schedule. A block away, Pacific Lutheran University, she was told, always gets its deliveries.
The mishaps have forced her to substitute products she can find at Costco — 45 minutes to an hour roundtrip — or nearby grocery stores, which don’t necessarily carry the specialty ingredients she needs and adds time to her already long days.
“I am literally going to the store every day, doing everything I can to stay up on my items,” she said, adding that the disruption is also costing her money as customers might leave if something they want is not available.
“It tends to be: ‘We’re out of that. We’re actually out of that, too.’ When we’re constantly hitting those new people with ‘we’re out of this,’ they’re not that understanding. Some people are understanding, but some maybe think it’s just an excuse.”
Washington Hospitality Association has offered tips on its website to adjust to what for now is the new normal on the supply side, and Anton has some advice to suppliers.
“The most important thing I’m pleading with them to do is communicate,” Anton said. “If you have to drop a customer because you no longer have a driver who can service that area, communicate. Let them know early, give them a chance to make adjustments.
“That’s my plea to these major companies,” Anton added.
El Borracho closed its Tacoma restaurant last year, but kept its Seattle restaurants running. They have transitioned to a vegan concept, but so far only the Pike Place Market location has reopened, with Ballard soon to follow and, eventually, a return to Tacoma.
“We are approaching reopening very gradually due to the labor shortage and the disruption to our supply chain,” manager Kittie Davidovich told The News Tribune in an email.
Giacalone, who opened her cafe last September, said the ongoing disruption exacerbates the inherent challenges of running a small business.
She has taken to asking her account managers, “What’s your confidence level in this coming or not?” she asks. “If you’re not very confident in it, I need to look elsewhere.”
The News Tribune’s Chase Hutchinson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Having trouble finding what you want at the grocery store or a restaurant? Here’s why."
