Supermarket chains are revamping their operations to navigate persistent product shortages, expanding storage space and curbing discounts to make sure they don’t run out, the Wall Street Journal reported. Companies are planning for shortages of popular brands of food and staples to continue for months and managers are trying to keep up as different products run short from week to week, industry executives said. While food supplies overall remain plentiful, Nutella spread, Prego pasta sauces and Pringles chips are among many items that have been tough to secure in recent weeks, some supermarket companies said. Lunchables snacks and Capri Sun drinks have been hit-or-miss for months. “The fact is, it’s like whack-a-mole,” Vivek Sankaran, chief executive of Albertsons Cos., said on a conference call recently. “On any given day, something is out of stock in the store.” Ferrero U.S.A. Inc., the maker of Nutella, and Pringles producer Kellogg Co. said they have seen heightened demand for their products. Campbell Soup Co. said it is increasing production and looking to hire to meet demand for Prego sauces. Kraft Heinz Co. said that orders for Lunchables and Capri Sun are exceeding expectations and that it is accelerating investments to increase production. Some packaged-food makers, struggling with stretched staffing and hard-to-find raw materials, are limiting shipments of products, companies said. In response, grocery buyers, who are in charge of planning and coordinating orders, are spending more time tracking down vendors, managing trucks that arrive late and searching for substitutes for out-of-stock items. Food retailers are buying extra inventory whenever they can, ordering items months earlier than usual and sending their own trucks directly to manufacturing plants to make pickups and speed up delivery times.
