Some of the primary burger menu items at Wendy’s are unavailable due to a widespread beef shortage.
Several Wendy's locations are taking certain burgers off the menu or have been forced to stop serving burgers entirely in recent days, according to a report by Business Insider. James Rutherford, an analyst with research firm Stephens, estimated that about 18% of locations are short on beef.
Even with the shortage, a Wendy’s representative told BI that there were no plans to serve frozen beef instead of the fresh beef the burger chain serves.
“It is widely known that beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges,” the representative said in a statement Tuesday.
Since April, dozens of meat packing plants across the country have shut down because of coronavirus outbreaks, increasing concerns about America’s meat supply. Now the effect has become apparent, with grocers including Costco and Kroger opting to limit the number of fresh meat products sold per person.
“There is plenty of protein in the supply chain; however, some suppliers are experiencing challenges,” read a statement from Kroger on Tuesday.
On Monday, nearly one-fifth of Wendy’s restaurants — a total of 1,043 locations — were completely sold out of beef products, including burgers, according to analysis by the financial firm Stephens, which examined the online menu at every Wendy’s in the United States.
»COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS
“Some of our menu items may be temporarily limited at some restaurants in this current environment,” Wendy’s said in its statement.
On social media, customers posted photographs of “sold out” signs at Wendy’s drive-thrus and noted the irony of a hamburger shortage at a chain that popularized the slogan “Where’s the beef?”
“We do not, today, expect a supply issue,” the company’s chief executive, Randy Garutti, said during an earnings call Monday. “However, costs have really jumped.”
Wendy’s reliance on fresh beef — a major selling point for the brand — may make it more vulnerable to shortages than some rivals.
“It impacts them more quickly, as opposed to some restaurants that have a little bit more frozen options on the menu,” said Rutherford, an analyst at Stephens who wrote the report on Wendy’s.
Food industry executives have warned of looming supply issues since April, when outbreaks at some of the country’s largest meat packing plants brought production to a halt.
Popular meat suppliers including Smithfield Foods have cowered under the the burden of the viral outbreaks, halting production to ensure that no additional employees are infected with COVID-19. The 15 largest pork-packing plants account for 60% of all pork processed, so when even one of those plants closes for days or weeks, the consequences ripple across the industry, according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution report.
About the Author
