Costco Limits Meat Purchases to Prevent Hoarding Amid Potential Shortage

May 05, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

Plus, COVID-19 is no match for the Popeyes sandwich, and more news to start your day

The risk of meat shortage is causing the bulk grocer to limit meat sales

Costo announced this week that it would be limiting shoppers to three total items of fresh beef, pork and poultry products per visit, to “help ensure more members are able to purchase merchandise they want and need.” CNN reports that Kroger will also be limiting meat purchases, as meatpacking workers across the country are increasingly affected by COVID-19, and plant closures lead to decreases in processing capacity. Though Donald Trump ordered that meatpacking plants should stay open, unions and workers insist it’s not safe.

Earlier this week, an employee at the Lincoln Premium Poultry plant in Nebraska, which produces chickens specifically for Costco, died of COVID-19, and the plant has reported 28 positive cases among workers. A spokesperson said the plant will now screen employee temperatures and perform deep cleaning, though did not specify whether the plant would close for any period of time. But as federal and local governments keep pushing for business to reopen and meatpacking plants to continue producing, it’s likely that more workers will fall ill.

And in other news...

• More restaurants are relying on delivery, which means they’re increasingly beholden to big tech. [OneZero]
• To illustrate the above, Google is getting into the restaurant space. [Forbes]
• People are making “pancake cereal” — a.k.a teeny pancakes in a bowl — on TikTok. [Insider]
• The pandemic is quashing food snobbery. [The Atlantic]
• A Gallup poll shows food insecurity risks are greater for women. [Gallup]
• NC State is researching sourdough starters, so you can pretend you’ve been conducting a science experiment this whole time. [The Counter]
• Kroger is donating 200,000 gallons of surplus milk to food banks. Dairy farmers estimate that nearly 3 million gallons of milk are being dumped per day. [CNN]
• Kroger will also be providing free coronavirus testing for employees. [CNBC]
• Sweetgreen is launching “Plates” dinners of protein, grains and vegetables. [NRN]
• Remember when the only thing anyone could talk about was the Popeyes Chicken sandwich? Innocent times. It turns out not even COVID-19 could destroy its popularity. [QSR]
• Police are looking for an “aggressive chicken” in Louisiana, who keeps terrorizing bank customers. [CNN]
• Though Texas’s governor ordered restaurant dining rooms to be open, Texans aren’t ready to eat out yet, which could hurt business. [CBS Austin]
• Blue Bell’s CEO has been charged with multiple felony counts over allegedly covering up the company’s listeria outbreak in 2015, and the company has been fined $19.25 million over the outbreak. [Fooddive]

• All AM Intel Coverage [E]