Labor issues in the market

Labor shortages leftover from the pandemic lead to a lower number of products accessible in retailers creating a challenge for customers. When fewer workers are available to stock the shelves, businesses distribute less goods. 

“There are labor constraints all along with the supply change. With that constraint, we’ve seen stockouts or shortages,” Malone said.

The higher demand of people buying Thanksgiving foods for the feasts and the stockouts ultimately raise product prices. The demand changes further affect food production companies that are frantically keeping up with the rising prices of ingredients. According to an IRI index report, the data shows a waning amount of food stock available, and recent trends display supplies dropping from numbers ranging between 6% to 10%.  

In addition to the workers who produce food and grocery store operators, the leftover labor concerns from the pandemic extend to other factors beyond the food industry that affect consumers. 

“With labor shortages, we also have trucking issues. To drive a large truck to help transport goods, the driver will need a CDL license, but there has been a shortage of CDL licenses,” Malone said.

The deficiency of Commercial Driving Licenses (CDL) presents considerable difficulties when tasked with finding ways to transport the goods—the ultimate effect; higher shipping costs for produce, which are passed on to consumers. 

Problems with labor and transportation directly contribute to the rising prices, but there are minor culprits that consumers may not have even thought about that still contribute to the increasing costs in grocery stores. Overlooked factors include the rising prices of the display and transportation materials. 

“Pallet prices are also extremely high right now; a price you may not think about but was passed on to food products,” Malone said.  

Farmers need pallets and transportation containers to move their items from the fields to the trucks, and those same containers make their way to the supermarkets alongside the food products. When compared to the stockouts themselves, rising prices and a lack of transportation equipment are overlooked as the primary causes of food price increases, but they still matter once the receipts are scanned.

The supply chain issues currently exist as a spider web of different problems, and various portions tangled together ultimately produce negative consequences for consumers.