Impact of COVID-19 on the Supply Chain of the Food Industry: A Literary Analysis

Abstract

The devastating impact of COVID-19 on different business functions cannot be undermined. This effect was highly disruptive for the food industry where a number of businesses closed down whilst a significant number of businesses had gone bankrupted. Considering this stance, this study explored the impact of COVID--19 on the supply chain of the food industry which was also the objective of this study. The research opted for interpretivism paradigm and qualitative research approach, following which literary analysis of the previous studies conducted within this domain was compared and analyzed. Findings of the study identified that COVID-19 directly hindered the food industry's supply chain in the times of seasonal employment where most of the migrant workers were unavailable due to sickness, lockdown restrictions, or any sort of travel restrictions. Besides that, streamlining and managing the flow of food ensuring that all the stages of the supply chain in the food industry are completed effectively was identified as another key challenge. Likewise, economic shrinkage and reallocation of resources paralyzed the economy of many countries and, hence, hindered governmental institutions' capacity to provide financial incentives to the companies. In addition, logistical efficiency was also affected due to prolonged lockdown, devastating the fine-tuned schedule and causing disruption in the food supply chain. Therefore, many foodproducing companies either closed their operations or had to reduce their production or operational capacity, which further resulted in increased demand, less supply, and less sales or profitability of the food businesses. it is recommended for the food businesses to consider restructuring their business models specifically related to progressive investment in the domain of supply chain. Companies need to foster collaboration among different actors or stakeholders of supply chain including an integration of raw material supply, manufacturing of food products and a streamlined chain of their supply in the market.