Last week’s winter storm that impacted millions in Texas is also leading to some empty grocery store shelves in New Mexico.This has to do with supply chain issues.We stopped by Albertsons in Albuquerque, which was doing better than others. “You don’t have the same variety, but you obviously have those items that you want to get,” said Travis Chaney, Regional Vice President at Albertsons Market.He said things are better now, but last week they had some issues getting meat to stores.“Most of that was caused by inbound deliveries to our distribution center and trucks just not being able to get there,” said Chaney.Other big chains are still having problems.“One of the most popular grocery stores, they receive almost all of their deliveries from Irving, Texas, and they get a daily delivery from Irving, Texas, but since Valentine’s they haven’t received any truck delivery from Texas because of the winter storm,” said Cherry Singhal, Assistant Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the University of New Mexico.Singhal lives in uptown Albuquerque. The business school professor said because of the perishable foods, grocery stores are dependent on frequent deliveries from warehouse’s and that’s where the problem lies.“The warehouses there in Texas, because of the power outages, cannot load the trucks – that’s your first problem,” said Singhal. “The second problem is the trucking capacity. Since last year and slightly because of the pandemic there’s been a shortage of truck drivers. Also, because it’s Texas most of the trucks are not equipped to drive on icy roads.”Then, the issue is getting food delivered from Texas to New Mexico. And, for those grocery stores doing well, it depends on where they get their major items.“The bread manufacturers – thankfully we pull out of Denver, so we didn’t have any issues, but our Texas stores they pull out of Fort Wort, and they did have several issues in getting bread to their stores,” said Chaney.Professor Singhal said the solution is for struggling grocery stores is to get items from other states. New Mexicans should be able to get their favorite items again as early as next week.Albertson’s told KOAT what helped them is that they had ordered extra apples, bananas and other stable items to get them through the storm.
Last week’s winter storm that impacted millions in Texas is also leading to some empty grocery store shelves in New Mexico.
This has to do with supply chain issues.
We stopped by Albertsons in Albuquerque, which was doing better than others.
“You don’t have the same variety, but you obviously have those items that you want to get,” said Travis Chaney, Regional Vice President at Albertsons Market.
He said things are better now, but last week they had some issues getting meat to stores.
“Most of that was caused by inbound deliveries to our distribution center and trucks just not being able to get there,” said Chaney.
Other big chains are still having problems.
“One of the most popular grocery stores, they receive almost all of their deliveries from Irving, Texas, and they get a daily delivery from Irving, Texas, but since Valentine’s they haven’t received any truck delivery from Texas because of the winter storm,” said Cherry Singhal, Assistant Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the University of New Mexico.
Singhal lives in uptown Albuquerque. The business school professor said because of the perishable foods, grocery stores are dependent on frequent deliveries from warehouse’s and that’s where the problem lies.
“The warehouses there in Texas, because of the power outages, cannot load the trucks – that’s your first problem,” said Singhal. “The second problem is the trucking capacity. Since last year and slightly because of the pandemic there’s been a shortage of truck drivers. Also, because it’s Texas most of the trucks are not equipped to drive on icy roads.”
Then, the issue is getting food delivered from Texas to New Mexico. And, for those grocery stores doing well, it depends on where they get their major items.
“The bread manufacturers – thankfully we pull out of Denver, so we didn’t have any issues, but our Texas stores they pull out of Fort Wort, and they did have several issues in getting bread to their stores,” said Chaney.
Professor Singhal said the solution is for struggling grocery stores is to get items from other states. New Mexicans should be able to get their favorite items again as early as next week.
Albertson’s told KOAT what helped them is that they had ordered extra apples, bananas and other stable items to get them through the storm.
Recent Comments