DES MOINES, Iowa — One of the many layers stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic has been, and continues to be, about grocery stores.
First we had the great toilet paper fallout, where people stocked up on as much toilet paper as they could.
Now, it's high prices of beef, chicken and pork. In some cases it's the shortage of these products.
Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker explained how Hy-Vee is combating the shortfall.
"We see the same thing the consumers see," Edeker explained, "because we get that high price before it goes to the consumer."
Your grocery bill may be a bit more on your next trip to the store as meat prices soar due to the ripple that COVID-19 has caused in the supply chain.
"You have these enormous, expensive plants that are processing so few head of cattle right now that the whole cost of that plant is going into that small production and that's why the cost is coming up," Edeker said.
Of course, he's referring to the outbreaks at several food processing plants in Iowa and across the country.
According to Business Insider, fresh meat prices were up more than 8% in April, and could increase by up to 20% in the upcoming months.
Edeker said Hy-Vee is combating that by shrinking margins on some items.
"It's always been a thing, 'Why are prices so low and then they're so high?' It's been like this for what seems for a long time, and it is a complicated answer," he said.
"But what we can do is keep looking for deals. Keep looking for ways we can bring product to them at a reasonable price and help them get through this," Edeker concluded.
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