Tyson Foods (TSN +1.30%) is experiencing a major disruption to its meat supply chain. The producer of pork, beef, and chicken brands including Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, and Ball Park said in a Sunday advertisement in national newspapers that consumers can expect significant shortages across its product line due to COVID-19 challenges.
"The food supply chain is breaking," an executive explained, due to the temporary closure of meat processing plants like the one in Waterloo, Iowa, that shut down on April 22.
That closure removed a major source of demand for farmers who raise chickens, cows, and pigs for commercial processing, Tyson said at the time, and the inventory pressure has only increased since then. "There will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities," executives explained in the weekend ad.
Image source: Getty Images.
While the supply chain challenge has pressured Tyson's stock in recent weeks, it has added to investor enthusiasm for Beyond Meat (BYND +5.91%). The plant-based meat substitute specialist recently announced a new partnership with Starbucks and is expected to report a more than 100% sales increase when it announces its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5.
