GaMEP Food Industry Project Manager, Wendy White, discusses how food manufacturers have had to pivot to beat supply chain challenges & meet Thanksgiving demand. Learn More About GaMEP Food Industry Training and Services.

This month, many are marking their calendars and planning to gather around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends. But with supply chain concerns, there might be some added anxiety around rustling up all the ingredients for a feast this year. Many of us may not understand how complicated it is to get cranberries from the bog to the processor, then cooked down and into a can and shipped to a distribution center and finally a store so we can buy it and have it on hand beside the turkey.

“Supply chains are convoluted,” explains Wendy White, a nationally known food safety and supply chain expert who works with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership at Georgia Tech. Before joining academia, White spent 17 years focused on safety and regulatory compliance in the food manufacturing and distribution industry.

“Formulated foods encompass a lot of ingredients, and shortages can be caused by breaks in the supply chain for any of those ingredients,” she says.

These issues are not always apparent to the public, but we may feel the effects. Supply chain concerns can mean grocery stores aren’t getting shipments on time, and manufacturers don’t always have all the ingredients needed to make their products.

“We have a large global market, and shipping something from another part of the world has become so easy for us in this day and age. Sourcing cheaper and different ingredients from different parts of the world has become commonplace,” says White. “Now, we’re seeing bottlenecks in the shipping and logistics segments of our food supply and it becomes apparent how we sometimes are reliant on those imports.”

So what can shoppers expect and how can they be prepared this holiday season? White, who watches the food industry closely, shares her insights.

Don’t freak out.

White says the American food industry is robust and resilient. Throughout the pandemic, manufacturers have had to continuously pivot, and have done so with surprising success.

“We are lucky to have a wide variety of raw agricultural products here in America — the breadbasket in the Midwest, or tropical climates in California and Florida where fruit can be grown. We’re not quite so dependent as other nations on foreign imports,” she explains.

While there will be some changes in prices and availability, there’s no need to panic, White says.

Expect higher prices across the board.

According to White, there are two primary drivers of price increases right now: labor shortages and higher transportation costs. This isn’t limited to the United States, the United Nation’s FAO (Food & Agricultural Organization) Food Price Index states that across international markets, we’re seeing the highest food prices in 20 years. Domestically, some food manufacturers are having trouble staffing their facilities. To attract workers, they increase wages, which in turn increases price tags on products. Also, when oil prices rise, the cost of transporting products to stores increases. That gets passed on to the consumer at the grocery store as well. White says that while prices will go up, she’s optimistic that it won’t be enough to break the bank.

Watch out for specialty items, especially from abroad.

The challenges of unloading and shipping items at many of America’s ports will affect the food industry. “We’re going to see some disruptions with food ingredients and components that are only available overseas,” says White.

Specialty products that are typically imported may be more difficult to find, or more expensive. Think imported Parmesan cheese or cinnamon shipped from Sri Lanka. Often these products are transported by ships, and congestion and backups at America’s ports may mean delays or scarcity.

Sometimes a shortage is created by frenzy.

“We had a run on paper goods during the heat of the pandemic,” White explains. “There was no shortage in supply. This was a fabricated increase in demand.” A rumor circulates that may send people running to the grocery store and hoarding products. “It’s hard to predict what the next crazy in-demand item is going to be that works consumers up into a frenzy and artificially inflates demand.”

Right now, White says, the food supplies are there, but there are complications with processing, packaging, and transportation capacity to meet rising demand. Some spice companies like McCormick have announced a shortage of glass bottles, meaning their gourmet spices are on hold right now. A drought in the Midwest has wheat prices soaring. Some meat and poultry plants aren’t operating at full capacity due to fewer employees on hand and fewer truckers available to transport items.

Food companies are preparing for the holidays.

“The food and beverage industry is versatile and very good at contingency planning,” White says. Turkey companies are processing birds and freezing them now to build up a surplus in anticipation for demand. Many companies are holding extra inventory — keeping three or four months of supply on hand instead of the more typical one or two months.

White describes the versatility of the American food manufacturing industry as “incredible.” She says this may mean consumers will see different types of packaging or different products this holiday season as companies pivot to handle supply chain issues. How might consumers see this? Fewer boneless, cured, or smoked hams, for example, where processing companies had fewer employees available to do the extra processing work.

To save costs, be flexible if you can.

If you’ve got time to shop around, check different retailers and grocery stores in person.

“They are continuing to use specials and deals to entice shoppers,” White says. “During the pandemic, many shoppers making grocery purchases online have actually been spending more because it’s a bit more difficult to make selections by brand.”

By perusing a store shelf in person, you may see six different types of canned green beans — and you can choose a store brand or a lower-cost item to save money.

Buy shelf-stable items such as canned cranberry sauce, boxed stuffing, and pumpkin pie filling ahead of time if you are feeling concerned. Planning in advance will help you make sure you’re not part of a last-minute, frantic search if supply chains become more disrupted than they already are.

Wendy White is one of America’s leading food supply chain and food safety experts. As project manager at the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership at Georgia Tech, White helps food manufacturers improve their food safety and quality systems. She is also on the editorial board of Food Safety Magazine.

Learn More About GaMEP Food Manufacturing Training and Services.

Wendy White, food safety expert and GaMEP project manager, discusses major pathogenic contamination issues that can surface when food manufacturing plants remain too complacent in their typical sanitation routines and neglect to seek out effective solutions that can identify the root cause of the problem. Best practices and strategies for contamination prevention that White mentions include:

• Adhering to new guidance from the FDA. Manufacturers have been prompted to create an action plan when pathogen positives are found that encourages them to go above and beyond the old “reclean, retrain, and reswab” mantra that has been the staple of environmental monitoring programs (EMPs) for years.

• Strategizing your Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) for efficacy. EMP-based recalls, the high cost of testing, and the general litigious nature of our country frequently discourage companies from employing a truly robust EMP. However, this strategy of avoidance can ultimately prove to be disastrous if a company does not attempt to identify negative tendencies and tackle potential issues before they escalate into true problems.

• Understanding the challenges to developing a robust EMP. Thorough sanitation is among the most important means of preventing contamination from environmental pathogens, but is often not robust enough to properly identify and solve all problems. Lack of management and expertise, inadequate training, and equipment design issues are just some of the common inhibitors to proper sanitation. Getting to the real root of the problem is the best way to truly prevent contamination from taking root inside your facility.

White expands on each of these points in her article, “Getting Sanitation out of the Reclean/Retest Rut” in Food Safety Magazine. The article provides valuable guidance and challenges food manufacturers to wake up and rethink their “out of sight, out of mind” approach that can sometimes lead to devastating results, such as pathogen positives, contamination events, recalls, and even outbreaks.

Read the entire Getting Sanitation out of the Reclean/Retest Rut article

 

Wendy White helps food companies achieve compliance with regulations and customer expectations. She holds leadership with the Georgia Association of Food Protection (GAFP) and the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) and holds Quality Auditor Certification from the American Society of Quality.

Wendy White, a nationally known food safety expert, has joined the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) as a food safety project manager.

In that capacity, she will provide educational outreach and support to help Georgia food manufacturers improve their food safety and quality systems.

Prior to joining the GaMEP, White was director of corporate food safety and quality at Golden State Foods, a food manufacturer and distributor in the industry with more than 35 sites around the world.

“I will work to help Georgia food manufacturers comply with government regulations for food safety and to be in compliance with those rules to avoid heavy fines, delays, and shutdowns,” White said.

She also will lead GaMEP’s new Food Safety Cohort Program, helping companies achieve compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA,) through a series of six 1-day group training sessions and additional one-on-one coaching sessions.

“Wendy brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and expertise which will be especially critical for our small- to medium-sized food manufacturers in Georgia,” said GaMEP Associate Director Tim Israel.

Many large companies have the resources to devote strictly to their compliance activities, but our small companies, don’t always have that, he said.

“Through her efforts, Wendy will help those smaller Georgia food manufacturers develop and expand robust compliance activities so that they’re sustainable over the long term as well as, easy to understand and implement into their operations,” Israel said.

Georgia is among the nation’s leading agriculture states and the industry accounts for nearly $75 billion of the state’s economy each year.

Food manufacturing, or food processing, is a related and growing segment of the Georgia economy. This sector, which includes 69,000 jobs across Georgia, generates $11 billion to $12 billion each year in total output.

White has overseen food safety operations at multiple facilities where she implemented Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans and related quality programs.

Her experience also includes overseeing internal audits, implementing corporate programs, ensuring regulatory compliance, elevating food safety culture, and supporting global supply chain management. She successfully implemented multiple Global Food Safety Initiative (GSFI) Certification Programs and is on the editorial board of Food Safety Magazine.

White is also a highly sought-after speaker at food safety conferences and is very involved in the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP). She’s held multiple leadership positions, and currently serves as vice chair of the Meat and Poultry PDG and sits on its Foundation Committee.  White is past president of the Georgia Association of Food Protection (GAFP) and currently is an IAFP board delegate.

She received a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in food science from the University of Georgia.

Click Here for More Information on GaMEP’s Food Safety and Quality services.