Articles Tagged with ''COVID-19''

It is time for independent processors to step forward and take a well-deserved bow. During the last few months, our industry has struggled to keep up with the consumer demand for meat and poultry products and has met those difficulties head-on.

The Coronavirus pandemic has hurt many businesses and affected many ways of life. Restaurants have been hit particularly hard, and the industry is still reeling from reduced capacity, closed dining rooms and the lingering uncertainty about how to avoid the virus.

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has allowed many professions to rethink how they do business, including meat and poultry processing plants. Increased automation and robotics allow plants to continue operations, while limiting the risk of infecting workers — or animals.

After years of increasing revenues, prepared-foods activity is crashing as consumers switch to homemade meals as they seek safety and savings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a normal year, we would be presenting Independent Processor’s annual Processor of the Year Award to a company that best exemplifies all of the qualities of a small or mid-sized meat processor. In a normal year, it’s a difficult process to determine which company to choose. However, there has been nothing normal about this year since mid-March.