We’ve all seen how COVID-19 has disrupted what we consider “normal,” especially when it comes to shopping at local grocery stores. Early on in the pandemic, people started hoarding household items such as toilet paper, disinfectant wipes, bleach, and convenient food items including instant rice, canned soup, and other non-perishable items that could be stored easily at home without a need for refrigeration.

The pandemic hit so quickly and broadly, grocery store shelves were initially depleted of many items consumers normally may take for granted as always being readily available. When restaurants started shutting down to dine-in patrons, the problem only got worse as consumers started to panic-buy food and other essentials to make sure their families would survive over the long haul.

In response, manufacturers and grocery food suppliers quickly isolated the items that were in the greatest demand, and developed a plan to dedicate their efforts to getting shelves stocked again. By tracking purchasing trends, manufacturers could concentrate their production lines to churn out high-demand products while scaling back less frequently purchased products. Grocery store distributors then used their supply chain capabilities to obtain as much of that product as possible, safely warehouse it, then pass it along to their grocery and convenience store customers as needed.

Atlantic Dominion Distributors has a long history in the distribution industry, and we’ve been through similar supply-and-demand shortages before. We use our strong relationships with national manufacturers to keep the supply chain open, even when others are struggling to keep their clients’ shelves stocked. We also keep our eyes on consumer purchasing trends to watch for shifts in buying habits, and we adjust our portfolio of products accordingly to ensure our clients have what customers want, when they want it.

In addition, we know that many of our clients have limited inventory space, which is why we offer next-day delivery service. Our clients can rely on us to have a large inventory of the most sought-after products, that can be delivered on an as-needed basis, so they don’t need to worry about keeping enough product on-hand to meet high consumer demand. Give us a call and we’ll be there for you.

The post How Grocery Store Supply Chains Are Responding To Coronavirus appeared first on Atlantic Dominion Distributors.