{"id":25426,"date":"2021-10-18T09:10:30","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T13:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-gordon-food-service-canada.pantheonsite.io\/ideas\/answering-your-questions-about-supply-chain-challenges\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T10:46:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T14:46:00","slug":"answering-your-questions-about-supply-chain-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gfs.ca\/en-ca\/ideas\/answering-your-questions-about-supply-chain-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Answering your questions about supply chain challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labour shortages, market conditions and transportation all play a role.<\/h2>\n

The weekend\u2019s near, and your restaurant\u2019s bottomless bucket special on breaded, fried shrimp is in peril. A temporary product shortage means no delivery until next week\u2014if labour, manufacturing and transportation function smoothly. The supply chain challenge is real.<\/p>\n

Product availability is limited by weak links at every level. It happens before vendor production with lack of availability or lead times on ingredients. It happens in packaging and transportation before products even get to vendors. It snowballs from there to vendor production to warehousing to trucking. Labour shortages throughout the industry are affecting everyone in some way.<\/p>\n

Add in the pandemic-fueled desire for certain items, and the problem compounds. Short supply. High demand. Increased prices. It\u2019s a recipe for headaches.<\/p>\n

Everyone is experiencing pain, most visibly foodservice operators struggling to maintain profitability, menu consistency and guest satisfaction. To address restaurant operators\u2019 questions, two Gordon Food Service experts\u2014Todd Baker, Executive Vice President, North America Merchandising, and Brad Reynolds, Senior Director, North America Procurement\u2014offered explanations:<\/p>\n

Why is the supply chain broken?<\/h3>\n

First of all, foodservice customers should know Gordon Food Service and all distributors and manufacturers are fighting the same supply chain battles. It plays out differently in different places, but our situations are all similar.<\/p>\n

At the apex of the problem is labour<\/a>. It\u2019s a problem in both the U.S. and Canada. Suppliers are in a less-efficient model than before the pandemic. Without labour, they aren\u2019t able to get as much throughput. Some suppliers are unable to obtain equipment and make process improvements right now, so they\u2019re trying to throw more labour at their manufacturing to get the most out of what they have. There\u2019s also labour shortages in shipping of raw materials, warehouse systems, and delivery of finished products.  <\/p>\n

Product demand is another factor. With labour troubles of their own, restaurants have changed their menus. Suddenly, there\u2019s an increased call for value-added products, like breaded, deep-fried appetizers. When everyone needs them at once, it can be a challenge even for a fully staffed and equipped vendor. <\/p>\n

How else is the pandemic playing into shortages?<\/h3>\n

Because of safety concerns, many manufacturers have implemented social distancing or limited shift sizes on their production floor. Also, every now and then a covid outbreak will slow or stop production and output for a period of time. It puts a challenge in the supply chain for a couple of weeks, and it\u2019s very unpredictable.<\/p>\n

The return of school and healthcare foodservice on a larger scale than we\u2019ve experienced over the past 18 months is adding more demands. Many schools have switched from tray service to packaged containers, and healthcare is using more to-go products, so that has taken a bite out of restaurant takeout materials. <\/p>\n

Which products are affected?<\/h3>\n

Depending on the week, different items are a challenge. You can see that on a trip to the grocery store. For our restaurant customers, three areas are hurting most:<\/p>\n