ArrowStream Foodservice Blog

ArrowStream economists have been closely watching protein production and are beginning to see signals of improvement. But while this is encouraging news, they also warn further plant disruptions could continue as the COVID-19 landscape evolves. 

"Last week pork output was 4.2 percent better than 2019 while beef production was down only .4 percent. As the chart shows, total beef, pork and chicken output was likely better than the previous year (we say likely as these are USDA estimates). Cattle and hog slaughter are expected to improve during the next few weeks. The best-case scenario may be that these plants reach 95 percent capacity due to operation adjustments for employee safety. And we'd offer, we're getting close to those levels. Thus, weekly gains in protein output could be tempered this summer. Also important to note that many plants continue to struggle with COVID-19 which could cause further plant disruptions."

ArrowStream data continues to signal that the return of the consumer to restaurant dine-in has been careful and that independent restaurants are being hurt more from the lockdowns than restaurant chains. According to RestaurantData.com, less than 10 percent of chain restaurant stores in the U.S. are directed to full-service dining while that share is almost two-thirds for independents.

ArrowStream's economists certainly were not surprised by the continuous fall in restaurant sales that were reported in April. They noted sales were "down almost 30 percent from March and 48.7 percent less than last year. And restaurant traffic was lower by 51.5 percent from 2019 while the average menu price was up 2.8 percent."

ArrowStream economists this week looked at April's U.S. restaurant industry's jobs report, which had the largest one-month job loss on record, representing about 13.5 percent of total jobs in the U.S. As the unemployment rate jumped to 14.7 percent - the highest in more than half a century - to say that the U.S. restaurant industry has been hit hard during this crisis is an understatement.

ArrowStream economists are closely monitoring and modeling the restaurant industry's re-opening on a state-by-state basis. The last week has seen several states plan to re-open, aligning with ArrowStream's COVID-19 State Ranking Model that follows each states' coronavirus response and risk. (Find the latest Model on ArrowStream's COVID-19 Resource Center.)

As we experience a historic downturn in protein production, ArrowStream's economists this week noted the U.S. meat protein industry's swift reaction to the slowed foodservice demand.

While disappointing March retail sales numbers are likely not surprising to many, ArrowStream economists also looked at April data to date this week and indicated that there may be some good news. 

When and where will the recovery from COVID-19 start? ArrowStream is leveraging data to give the industry direction.

As restaurant chains look to monitor their supply chain operations during COVID-19, purchasing teams can use ArrowStream’s Restaurant Purchasing Trends to compare their data to a benchmark representing 80 restaurant chain operators selected from the overall ArrowStream network.

The coronavirus outbreak continues to impact the commodity markets and ArrowStream's economists are closely monitoring the environment. This week, they commented on the shifts in beef production, which have been tracking above year-ago levels, up 12.9 percent.