04-07-2020, 02:44 AM
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...ssessment/
"Speakers painted a bleak picture Monday of Hawaii’s near-term economic future during a teleconference conducted by the state House Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness.
Lauren Zirbel, executive director of the Hawaii Food Industry Association, told committee members that food sales at restaurants that remain open continue to drop — even though trips for food, whether to the supermarket or to restaurants offering drive-through or takeout meals — are allowable under the state’s stay-at-home order, which is in effect through April.
“Takeout is not even coming close to making up for the losses in dine-in, and hotels and restaurants have closed,” Zirbel said. “And food service options in grocery stores are down as much as 60% in some areas.”
Because of the decline, “layoffs are occurring on the supply-side of the food chain as well as on the food-service side. And many of these layoffs started to occur prior to the passage of the CARES Act,” she said.
Zirbel said a second wave of negative economic impacts is starting to take effect as Hawaii’s food industry is “seeing sales slow down on most items except staple items.”
“We’re not seeing the increases the previous two weeks when people were trying to stock up,” she said, referring to the initial wave of panic buying at the beginning of the pandemic, when people cleared store shelves of items including canned foods, bottled water and toilet paper.
“We’ve had a lot of (convenience) store closures, especially in shopping malls and tourist areas. … And we’re seeing the impact of layoffs showing up in our food industry data … as people are buying smaller quantities of lower-value items.
“This trend suggests that some people are running out of money to purchase food.”
more at link
"Speakers painted a bleak picture Monday of Hawaii’s near-term economic future during a teleconference conducted by the state House Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness.
Lauren Zirbel, executive director of the Hawaii Food Industry Association, told committee members that food sales at restaurants that remain open continue to drop — even though trips for food, whether to the supermarket or to restaurants offering drive-through or takeout meals — are allowable under the state’s stay-at-home order, which is in effect through April.
“Takeout is not even coming close to making up for the losses in dine-in, and hotels and restaurants have closed,” Zirbel said. “And food service options in grocery stores are down as much as 60% in some areas.”
Because of the decline, “layoffs are occurring on the supply-side of the food chain as well as on the food-service side. And many of these layoffs started to occur prior to the passage of the CARES Act,” she said.
Zirbel said a second wave of negative economic impacts is starting to take effect as Hawaii’s food industry is “seeing sales slow down on most items except staple items.”
“We’re not seeing the increases the previous two weeks when people were trying to stock up,” she said, referring to the initial wave of panic buying at the beginning of the pandemic, when people cleared store shelves of items including canned foods, bottled water and toilet paper.
“We’ve had a lot of (convenience) store closures, especially in shopping malls and tourist areas. … And we’re seeing the impact of layoffs showing up in our food industry data … as people are buying smaller quantities of lower-value items.
“This trend suggests that some people are running out of money to purchase food.”
more at link