Chicken Run at Supermarkets Has Processors Boosting Output

Sanderson, Tyson shift poultry, pork, beef output for retail
Move comes as restaurants close, reducing food-services demand

The chicken and poultry shelves sit nearly empty at Whole Foods Market in Vauxhall, New Jersey, on March 13.Photographer: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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By Lydia Mulvany, Isis Almeida, and Edward Ludlow

March 17, 2020 at 12:00 AM UTC

Updated on

March 17, 2020 at 5:36 PM UTC

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Meat companies are ramping up processing to help restock coolers that are being emptied by Americans on edge because of the spreading coronavirus.

Tyson Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. meat processor, is making its “most-significant shift” ever to produce more chicken, beef and pork that’s favored by supermarket shoppers, rather than cuts that restaurants use. Employees are working through weekends to fill as many orders as possible.