[Epoch Times] Frozen french fry sales at grocery stores spiked 78.6 percent for the four-week period ended April 4, according to Nielsen data, resulting in shortages at many U.S. supermarkets.Mayewski, 25, a construction manager, has not seen frozen fries at the Giant Food or Safeway supermarkets near her Maryland home.
Kraft Heinz Co’s Ore-Ida, the main producer of frozen fries for supermarkets, is rushing to bolster supplies.
"Our Ore-Ida factory is running at full capacity to keep up with demand," Kraft spokesman Michael Mullen said.
Meanwhile:
At the same time, major fast-food french fry suppliers McCain Foods, J.R. Simplot, and Lamb Weston Holdings are canceling potato orders.
Fast-food suppliers’ freezers are full of frozen fries, hash browns, and potato skins, and their storage sheds are packed with potatoes, farmers and experts told Reuters.
Their demand is down because four out of ten U.S. restaurants are closed, as are schools, hotels, and workplaces. Fast-food chains are doing drive-through only, and with no set date for lifting stay-at-home orders, the outlook for the foodservice industry is dim
But:
Compounding problems, most foodservice operators do not have connections at supermarkets—where adding a new product can take several months.
"It would be a Herculean task," Allen said of rerouting supplies. And with all the uncertainty around demand, he added, "the investment would be tough to justify."
Did you realize that there is an international signal flat message that reads
NOTHING CAN BE DONE BEFORE HIGH TIDE
Sounds like a job for Captain Know-how. Or maybe someone needs to write some B2B codes in COBOL.