Wayne Drake, owner of Farmington’s Better Living Center, points to shelves uncovered by stock shortages due to supply chain problems Thursday, Nov. 18. Drake said the Better Living Center has faced the weight of supply chain problems due to national labor. scarcity. Kay Neufeld / Franklin Journal
FARMINGTON – Supply chain issues – the country’s conversation – have hit Farmington. Several local companies have expressed problems in receiving stock on time. In some cases, stocks have not arrived for months at a time. Now, food is a current target of supply chain problems and Farmington’s Better Living Center (BLC) feels the weight. However, it offers the BLC the opportunity to return to its roots as a supplier of local products.
BLC is Farmington’s main natural food source. It was established in 1973 and purchased by new owner Wayne Drake in December 2020. The BLC stores a mix of branded healthy food from suppliers and products from more than 90 local vendors in Franklin and Maine County.
The BLC has been battling stock shortages at least since late October, Drake told the Franklin Journal on Thursday (November 18th).
About three weeks ago, Drake said United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), its supplier of non-local vendor items, began limiting its grocery orders. Most recently, Drake placed an order for $ 9,000 worth of product and only received a value of $ 4,000.
“We had no case,” Drake said.
He said the store tracked $ 14,000 less in sales as of Nov. 18 than it did throughout October. He expects the store to lose between $ 4,000 and $ 8,000 in revenue during the peak of the holiday season if those problems persist.
Truck dealers and drivers have told Drake (because UNFI has been inaccessible) that there are simply not enough employees in the warehouses to pack the trucks. Employees who are there, Drake said, are being “overworked” and end up leaving after 14-hour shifts, putting UNFI “at risk of losing everyone.”
Supply chain problems began at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic due to panic purchases, higher consumer demands (both for products and delivery), closures, and so on. But recently, as the national labor shortage continues, suppliers have struggled to staff warehouses and other places in the supply chain, such as truck drivers.
Bloomberg reports, “There’s a lot of food. There just isn’t always enough processing and transportation capacity to meet growing demand as the economy grows.”
This is manifested in different ways across the country. Chicago “is lacking canned goods, canned goods … and some dry goods.” Denver has little milk. The Portland Press Herald reports that Monte’s Fine Foods can no longer deliver its signature pizza boxes because the box supplier tripled its minimum order “suddenly and without notice.”
In Farmington (and elsewhere), supply chain problems and labor shortages are affecting the ability of regional stores such as BLC, Food City and Hannaford to store “natural and healthy food sections “Drake said.
Drake said the UNFI limit has had a big impact on the store, its ability to sell specific products (brand and others) and keep the shelves folded.
Just the day before, Drake said he was informed that the driver of the truck had planned to leave the grocery order for the week he had called the next. The dealer told Drake that they were not sure they would find another driver and that they might have to delay the order until next week.
“I was very discouraged,” Drake said. “It’s brutal.”
Drake said “any grocery item is affected” by supply chain problems. Specifically, prepackaged groceries and branded products, such as cookies, frozen foods, and so on.
Supply chain problems and difficulties storing shelves are often difficult. But Drake is worried as the holidays approach.
“I need to keep things on the shelf and we’ll get into our busiest month of the year,” he said. “Thanksgiving-related supplies are definitely hard to find right now.”
The BLC has had trouble finding stock such as “Tofurkey,” other vegetarian roasts, blueberry sauce, and additional products being ordered around Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Drake noted that the roots of BLC lie in local produce. However, it has received rejection from customers looking for specific brands.
“A lot of people go looking for variety (of products, of brands). So working with UNFI in their large selection of groceries gives us variety, ”Drake said.
Drake said he and his employees have “sounded like broken records” explaining to customers throughout the day why certain products are not in stock.
They have to explain that “it’s happening to Hannaford too, it’s not about the BLC.”
Although Drake did not own the store in March 2020, he believes there are differences in the initial pandemic and the current supply shortage.
He considers the shortage of the initial pandemic to be “man-made, consumer-driven” due to the “panic buying”. The current supply chain problems are “source-driven,” he said, because of “all the ships sitting in the oceans” and from a “(staff) point of view where they don’t have enough workers.”
Drake also noted that some of the items they receive have risen in price a lot. For example, the BLC bought bags of flour in bulk in January for $ 43 that they are now buying for $ 67.
“Prices … overheads are rising, but our margins and margins remain the same. Obviously people are seeing higher prices,” he said. “I have to make decisions and (often times) I don’t put complete marks on things.”
However, BLC prices have risen in some cases, which Drake fears will “drive people to find cheaper options.”
Drake describes the “current model” as “unsustainable” and difficult for local stores like the BLC to “survive”.
“What it has shown is that I think everyone should be less dependent on a (starting) supply chain crisis in California,” he said.
Drake fears that if supply chain problems continue, he will have to temporarily reduce staff hours.
However, these problems have offered Drake and the BLC the opportunity to rethink the store model and become even more local.
“It’s an opportunity to rethink the local economy,” he said. “If we can isolate our community from something bad happening halfway around the world, I think we need to do it.
“We have the capacity … And we have the traditions. I don’t think it would cost us too much to go back (to local roots). I think a lot of knowledge has been lost. But I think if we can capture it, people are very resilient and adaptable. “Drake said.
Drake also believes the BLC would benefit if the supply chain forced other grocery chains like Walmart and Hannaford to adapt to a localized model.
As it stands, vendors offer these store chains better prices than those offered by BLC “because they have the purchasing power.”
“The local economy equals the playing field,” Drake said. “We will thrive when they suffer … because we already have the (local) connections.”
With that in mind, the BLC has some plans in place.
Drake wants to increase the amount of local produce sold in the store. This is not only to fill the shelves, but also because you think they are of higher quality. For example, Drake compared a branded CBD oil to a local one produced in Franklin County. Although locally made CBD costs $ 9 more, it is considered a superior product.
“Maybe you’re sacrificing some comfort, the price,” he said. “But you don’t have to sacrifice quality to be local.”
Drake is also working to reopen the BLC kitchen. Here, staff (who are already skilled chefs, bakers, etc.) will make food products that fill the city’s voids, such as pastry and a variety of vegan dishes.
This would offer customers fresher, healthier local options, he said. It would also fight food waste by preserving local produce (in soups, juices, smoothies, preserves, etc.) that fly during Maine’s “short growing season”.
This transition to a more localized model also comes at a time when the “freedom” of “Mainers to grow their own food,” is increasing, Drake said. This is due to the Maine Food Sovereignty Act, passed by the state legislature in 2017, and the constitutional amendment to the “Right to Food,” passed by voters in the Nov. 2 election.
Drake expects to have the kitchen up and running sometime in January, though that depends on how the profits are over the next month due to supply chain problems.
“The drip of the supply chain afeffects not just the tables, but also the local economy, “Drake said.” THere are things we have planned to do to improve the store or add a kitchen, these things are retracted.
“If I was going to hire a contractor to get our kitchen up and running, now that contractor is not getting our job,” he added.
Ultimately, Drake knows the BLC will withstand this storm.
“When I bought the BLC, I wanted to take it to the new era,” Drake said. Maybe this new era looks different than you imagined, but Drake is optimistic about his future.
“The store has been here for 50 years. It survived the 70s, it survived the year 2K, it survived the pandemic, so far, “Drake said.” We will survive. We will overcome it. “
«Previous
Jay eliminates the provision for a lower salary to attract potential public works employees
Next ”
Tri-County Mental Health is seeking $ 50,000 from Farmington’s ARPA funds
Related stories
