Fresh, never frozen, but nearly gone. Wendy’s faces meat shortage during coronavirus
This isn’t the best news for a popular fast-food chain that just started serving breakfast.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the famous fast-food restaurant Wendy’s may be facing a meat shortage. Some menu items are not available at the moment in select locations across the country, reported WYMT in Hazard, Kentucky.
“As you’ve likely heard, beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges,” a Wendy’s statement released to WYMT said. “Because of this, some of our menu items may be in short supply from time to time at some restaurants in this current environment. We expect this to be temporary, and we’re working diligently to minimize the impact to our customers and restaurants.”
According to Restaurant Business Online, prices have increased “for parts of beef popular with fast-food chains.”
“As you’ve likely read, there have been challenges among protein suppliers across North America,” Heidi Schauer, a spokesperson for Wendy’s, told Restaurant Business Online. “We are working closely with our supplier partners and restaurant teams to minimize the impact to our customers and continue to monitor this closely.”
As of May 5, “nearly one in five of Wendy’s restaurants are out of beef,” CNN reported.
“Around 1,000 or 18% of Wendy’s 5,500 US restaurants are not serving any hamburgers or other meat-based items, according to an analysis of online menus at every location conducted by financial firm Stephens,” CNN reports. “Wendy’s is ‘more exposed’ to the shortage sparked by the coronavirus pandemic because of its reliance on fresh beef compared with its competitors.”
Unfortunately for fast-food connoisseurs, Wendy’s isn’t the only restaurant suffering during the pandemic. According to Forbes, McDonald’s Canada announced that it will start sourcing beef from outside the country.
“Due to unprecedented COVID-19 impacts on the Canadian beef supply chain, we are temporarily adjusting our supply to incorporate beef from outside Canada – from pre-approved McDonald’s suppliers and facilities globally – in order to meet the current demand, effective immediately,” according to a statement provided to Forbes.
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 6:13 PM.