2021 Food Safety Report: Still king of the mountain...with challenges
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has pummeled every aspect of business, it could not knock food safety from its perch as meat and poultry processors’ primary focal point in 2020.
The last year was one for the record books in many ways. Never before had our nation’s meat and poultry processors been challenged to meet consumer demand in such intense and unorthodox ways. Large facilities were shut down for varying periods of time due to outbreaks of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in their plants, causing supply shortages in some retail outlets. Meanwhile, small operators strained to meet customer demand that flooded their way as consumers looked for alternative sources for meat and poultry products.
In many places across the country, families had to stock up to feed kids that were no longer going to school, and pivot and prepare most, if not all, meals at home. Retail sales of meat and poultry blew away 2019 sales most of the year. This happened almost literally overnight. On the other hand, processors who supplied restaurants and other institutions saw their sales crash and had to quickly adapt to the new market dynamics in new ways.