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Pork shortage in offing after major US processor closes due to COVID-19 cases

The closure of one of the nation's largest pork processing plant after approximately 300 positive COVID-19 cases among workers could soon have a powerful effect on the entire national meat supply to restaurants, say experts.

Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is shutting down after some 300 workers are deemed COVID-19 positive (photo: iStock).

April 14, 2020

Restaurant brands that depend on most any type of pork product are being warned today that their supply of such goods is dwindling and may be in danger of running out, after one of the nation's largest pork producers announced it's closing its doors indefinitely after hundreds of workers tested positive for COVID-19. Smithfield Foods' Sioux Falls, South Dakota plant is one of the largest pork processing facilities in the U.S., representing 4% to 5% of U.S. pork production, according to a news release.

"The closure of this facility — combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry — is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply."

--Smithfield Foods President and CEO Kenneth M. Sullivan

Leadership at that plant said the South Dakota location alone supplies nearly 130 million servings of food per week to the U.S. However,  the plant was closed after approximately 300 of its 3,700 employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Smithfield Foods said the plant's indefinite closure puts the nation's whole meat supply in danger. 

"The closure of this facility — combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry — is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply. …" Sullivan said in the Smithfield news release. "These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation's livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals. …

In preparation for a full shutdown, some activity will occur at the plant today to process product in inventory, consisting of what the company said is "millions of servings of protein."  Smithfield said it will resume operations in Sioux Falls once further direction is received from local, state and federal officials. Employees will be paid for the next two weeks, according to the release. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration said there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of COVID-19. 

An expert on supply chain management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, Krista Foster, said the shutdown may not only hurt the nation's meat supply, but impact every tier of the supply chain. 

"Just as we have seen the effects of coronavirus within other industries, these plant closures will disrupt the entire pork supply chain — from the livestock farmers to the consumers who purchase pork products," Foster said.

At Smithfield Foods, Sullivan said that because meat is both perishable and requires cold storage — which is also in limited supply — current pork inventory is also limited. As a result, he said once the plant's current inventory is dispensed to restaurants and other retailers, pork availability will also be limited. 

Foster added that the probable shortage that will likely result from the closure will have ripple effects throughout the supply chain for restaurants and others. 

"In this case, the inputs into the process are also perishable, and farmers will be left with livestock that they won't be able to move down the supply chain," she said in the university's news release. "With production halted, every tier of the supply chain will be impacted."