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FOR POTATO FRESH PACKERS, COVID-19 MEANS MORE BUSINESS BUT NEW CHALLENGES
One of the unforeseen consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is the large increase in demand for fresh fruit and vegetables. This means that some potato fresh packers are now busier than ever, but not without a couple of challenges. The first is the pressure on packing lines to achieve greater throughputs without compromising product quality. The second is the need for more workers at a time when manual labor is especially scarce.
This unusual mix of opportunities and challenges was stirred-up when lockdown restrictions forced foodservice outlets to shut down. Millions of hungry consumers, prevented from eating out, suddenly increased the frequency with which they cooked at home, sending fresh potato sales into orbit. The scale and speed of this rise in demand was breath-taking. In a seven-day period when the coronavirus crisis had just started, the dollar-value of potato sales at multiple-outlet supermarkets across the USA rose by 72% – then kept on rising, week after week, by anything from 65% to 115%. At the same time, fresh potato sales in Europe also skyrocketed. Even now, several months later, fresh potato sales are above 2019 levels in many nations by about 40%.
Packers have struggled to keep up. This is understandable, but also unfortunate: when big potato retailers find that their regular suppliers can’t cope with orders, they look elsewhere for help, and business that gets steered away doesn’t always come back. potatoes.news/agrotechnology/keeping-the-harvest/equipmen...
FOR POTATO FRESH PACKERS, COVID-19 MEANS MORE BUSINESS BUT NEW CHALLENGES
One of the unforeseen consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is the large increase in demand for fresh fruit and vegetables. This means that some potato fresh packers are now busier than ever, but not without a couple of challenges. The first is the pressure on packing lines to achieve greater throughputs without compromising product quality. The second is the need for more workers at a time when manual labor is especially scarce.
This unusual mix of opportunities and challenges was stirred-up when lockdown restrictions forced foodservice outlets to shut down. Millions of hungry consumers, prevented from eating out, suddenly increased the frequency with which they cooked at home, sending fresh potato sales into orbit. The scale and speed of this rise in demand was breath-taking. In a seven-day period when the coronavirus crisis had just started, the dollar-value of potato sales at multiple-outlet supermarkets across the USA rose by 72% – then kept on rising, week after week, by anything from 65% to 115%. At the same time, fresh potato sales in Europe also skyrocketed. Even now, several months later, fresh potato sales are above 2019 levels in many nations by about 40%.
Packers have struggled to keep up. This is understandable, but also unfortunate: when big potato retailers find that their regular suppliers can’t cope with orders, they look elsewhere for help, and business that gets steered away doesn’t always come back. potatoes.news/agrotechnology/keeping-the-harvest/equipmen...