The global supply chain bottleneck disrupts market supply and demand, making it more and more difficult for American catering industry to obtain enough straw, paper cup and container to take out tableware. With the continuous growth of take out orders, this has become a new challenge for the catering industry.
After the United States continues to relax epidemic prevention restrictions, more and more people eat in restaurants, but the take out orders are still increasing, resulting in an increasing demand for take out tableware from the catering industry.
According to the NPD data of the market research company, the take out orders of American restaurants in September increased by 20% compared with the same period two years ago. This reflects that after the outbreak of COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, people’s consumption habits have been changed, so as to reduce the risk of epidemics and increase the demand for outgoing meals.
The supply chain problem has already made the catering industry face the impact of rising food prices and the shortage of important food materials such as chicken. The shortage of take out tableware has become a new problem that the industry should be eager to solve.
Craig Dunaway, President of Penn Station East Coast subs, a chain restaurant, said that the current operation problem is not only the food materials, but also the challenge to obtain enough plastic and paper-based take-out tableware and packaging.
But the supply situation makes it difficult for take out tableware manufacturers. In addition to the soaring freight rates, the lack of sufficient manpower and the rising cost of raw materials such as pulp have overwhelmed the industry and continuously reduced its shipping capacity.
International paper has absorbed an additional $50 million in supply chain costs in the last quarter. Therefore, we will no longer produce paper food containers, but continue to produce take out packaging products such as corrugated paper and absorbent paper towels. CEO Mark Sutton expects that the supply chain may not return to normal until the second half of next year.
During the epidemic, many restaurants closed down, which greatly reduced the demand for take out tableware and reduced the production of relevant manufacturers, which is also one of the factors leading to the current shortage of take out tableware.
David Pokorny, a food packaging expert in the business development department of imperial Dade, a packaging supplier, said that at present, the market demand has only returned to the pre epidemic level of about 70%. Under the condition that the output is limited and can not meet the demand, the catering industry has ignored the price and only wanted to obtain the required take out tableware.
Post time: Nov-22-2021