Sales are up at supermarkets. But that brings new problems for the grocery industry

There can be such a thing as too much business, supermarkets across the country are realizing as the surge in grocery demand sparked by the widening coronavirus crisis is forcing them to modify their policies. The major chains usually get shipments overnight, or perhaps twice a day, to restock essentials such as paper towels, toilet paper and water, but “manufacturers in some cases are having trouble keeping up, and that’s where the void is, they’re not able to keep up with demand,” said Bob Reeves, vice president for the West at the Shelby Report, a research firm that tracks the grocery industry. Rodney McMullen, chief executive of Kroger Co., the parent of Ralphs and other chains, said in an email to customers Wednesday that the company’s “supply chain teams are working to ensure that the food, medicine and cleaning supplies our customers need are reaching our stores as quickly as possible.” Reeves said another potential problem for the chains is that they could find their staffing levels strained either because an increasing number of schools are temporarily closing, leaving children at home and forcing parents to stay with them, or because workers are becoming ill. “Not everybody can afford to have day care,” Reeves said. “I’m not aware of any staffing issues currently, but that’s going to become a bigger problem.” Albertsons spokeswoman Melissa Hill said in an email that the chain was “not experiencing problems with staffing but are always looking for people to fill positions, and there is certainly a need in the stores right now.” Further up the supply chain, industry groups say that there’s no current shortage of food in the pipeline — after all, U.S. consumers aren’t eating more overall, they’re just buying their food all at once — but that might change if coronavirus outbreaks start to affect workers in food production and distribution. The National Pork Producers Council has sent a letter to the White House and federal legislators, warning that the spreading virus could make the industry’s ongoing labor crisis worse, resulting in “serious market disruption with catastrophic implications for hog farmers.” The group urged lawmakers to offer farmers financial support and expedite worker visas to avoid shortages.