World

Americans Empty Nation’s Grocery Shelves to Hunker Down at Home

Packaged food companies boost production to meet demand spike
Purchases also rising for fresh food such as meat and poultry

A shopper looks at empty shelves of frozen food in a supermarket in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 2020.Photographer: Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

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By Leslie Patton, Lydia Mulvany, and Jen Skerritt

March 13, 2020 at 7:51 PM UTC

Updated on

March 14, 2020 at 11:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Ever since mid-January, Adnan Durrani, chief executive officer of frozen-food company Saffron Road, knew the coronavirus outbreak was poised to create a spike in demand.

For the past six weeks, his factories have been running at full capacity in order to keep items like frozen chicken pad thai and sesame ginger udon bowls on the shelves at Kroger Co., Walmart Inc. and other stores. Panicked Americans -- who only weeks ago were spurning packaged food for fresher options -- are now rushing to fill their freezers and cupboards as coronavirus cases spike.