Grocers and food manufacturers build up stockpiles to guard against demand spikes in COVID’s second wave
The runs on products this spring forced manufacturers and retailers to rethink supply chain norms in Canada, which had focused on producing the right amount of products “just in time,” as a way of cutting down on warehousing costs, Graydon said.
Manufacturers are also quick to note that even in the most frenzied days of the pandemic this spring, the supply chain never actually ran out of food, but it did struggle to move food from warehouses to stores quickly enough.
“We all need to do a better job of reassuring Canadians that we’ll make more,” Maharaj said. “You don’t need to panic buy. We’ll make more.”
Empire Co. Ltd., Canada’s second-largest grocery chain, which includes Sobeys, Safeway and FreshCo, on Tuesday said it has been working with its suppliers to increase its inventory of “key items we know Canadians have been looking for throughout the pandemic,” including toilet paper and flour.
“We are starting to see slight increases in shopping behaviour in regions where COVID cases are rising, indicating that families are planning to spend more time eating at home,” spokesperson Jacquelin Weatherbee said in an email. “Although you may see an empty shelf, from time to time, rest assured more product is on the way and it will only be for a very short period of time.”
Loblaw Cos. Ltd., the country’s largest supermarket chain, also stressed in a statement that it is “not worried about running out of food.”
But both Empire and Loblaw said they would consider reinstating per-customer limits on in-demand products in some cases.
“We’re making the preparations our customers would expect, including increasing inventories and limiting purchases in some very specific cases,” Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas said in an email.
One manufacturer of toilet paper and paper towel said it hasn’t been able to restore its inventory levels because demand for paper towel has remained high since the spring, and demand for toilet paper is still higher than normal, though slightly down from its peak earlier this year.
Irving Consumer Products Ltd., which makes the Royale brand of paper towel and toilet paper, said its inventories have slightly recovered, but are still “far from pre-COVID-19 levels” despite its production facilities running all lines, with added staff and overtime.
“We continue to run all assets and optimize our runs to support our existing customers on household towel and other essential tissue products,” the company said in a statement.
