April 20, 2021 — There appears to be significant pent-up demand for Americans wanting to dine out, but restaurants and foodservice distributors face a weighty new dilemma: how to find enough employees to service returning customers. Food and seafood distributors are also facing a myriad of transportation and supply chain issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Warmer weather, stepped-up vaccinations, economic stimulus payments, and people just wanting to get out of the house after quarantine are pushing up traffic to restaurants, Technomic Managing Principal Joe Pawlak said during the Food Institute webinar, “State of the Industry – 2021 Supply Disruption” this week.