NRF ‘Encouraged’ By Biden’s Supply Chain Efforts

The National Retail Federation (NRF) says it is “encouraged” by the Biden administration’s efforts to deal with supply chain disruptions, according to a press release.

The NRF issued a statement on Friday (Aug. 27) following the White House’s appointment of John D. Porcari as Port Envoy to handle supply chain issues.

“Retailers have faced a number of unprecedented challenges during the pandemic, and the supply chain disruptions that continue to evolve pose a threat to many American businesses,” said David French, senior vice president of government relations for the NRF. “As consumer demand increases, the supply chain challenges and the costs associated with them remain significant. Imports at retail container ports have marked record highs recently as consumer demand continues to stretch supply chains and retailers shift to the peak shipping season for winter holiday merchandise.”

The NRF says it looks forward to working with the White House on this issue to deal with supply chain bottlenecks, “particularly in advance of the upcoming holiday season, so that retailers can ensure consumers can access the products they want and need in a timely manner.”

In June, the NRF wrote to President Biden listing the number of supply chain challenges retailers have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with solutions to deal with current and future supply chain disruptions.

Learn more: Supply Chain Woes Crippling US Food Sector

As PYMNTS reported earlier this week, the worldwide supply chain lag has begun affecting some of the country’s largest food distributors. Among them is the wholesale food distributor Sysco, which has been forced to turn away customers in places where demand outweighs capacity. This has caused prices for chicken, pork and paper takeout packaging to rise abruptly, with production slowing for high-labor cuts of meat such as bacon, wings and tenders.

“There are certain areas across the country that are more challenged by the labor shortage, and our volume of orders is regularly exceeding our capacity,” Sysco CEO Kevin Hourican wrote to clients earlier this month. “This has, unfortunately, led to service disruptions for some of our customers.”