bbc.com/news/business-58847275

People will have to get used to higher food prices, the boss of Kraft Heinz has told the BBC.

Miguel Patricio said the international food giant, which makes tomato sauce and baked beans, was putting up prices in several countries.

Patricio says this broad range of factors is contributing to the rising cost of food.

"Specifically in the UK, with the lack of truck drivers. In the US logistic costs also increased substantially, and there's a shortage of labour in certain areas of the economy."

Had to wait a month for my New fridge to arrive. I know some ain’t get it that soon. What a time to be alive

S*** is crazy rn. Prices for goods are so unstable. My job has been hell recently

How so??

whats ur job

Lead times are absurd, raw material driving goods up, had a few suppliers claim Force Majeure last month, amongst other things

Sourcing Specialist

Bro crazy industry to be in. . . Too many thoughts

But are the companies that claimed FM being penalized further by your company? Will there still be a business relationship in the future?

And also how has your company heldup? How has turnover been during the pandemic?

Wont help when ships are sitting off the coast for days on end

Long story short about the FM the one I was working with, the buyer who negotiated the contract utilized the supplier’s terms and it basically f***ed us because it gave them all the leverage. I inherited the contract so I was forced to pick up the pieces. Relationship is strained internally but due to the way the contract is structured there’s no true breach or anything Legal can do it assist so we just have to deal with it.

Turnover has been crazy although my company’s situation is a little different as they went through an acquisition during the pandemic, so between those two things and the fact that (from my experience at least) SCM has a high turnover rate to begin with absolutely

what does scm have a high turnover rate? actually saw some jobs such as purchasing assistant i was gonna look into

I’ve only been in the field for ~4 years but what it boils down to from my experience is you have so much exposure with other companies compared to probably any other field out there. In my position alone I’ve probably been in communication with 100+ suppliers and I just started at my new company in June. If you’re good at your job you can get recruited heavily. Couple this now with everything going on in the world and how SCM has become one of the most lucrative fields it’s just too easy to up and leave. If you have any other questions or anything let me know. It’s a great field though I can’t see myself leaving it. It’s very engaging and you can make a name for yourself it you’re good at it

does it pay good?

Precisely, friend who does dispatching was explaining something v similar & I had to note how if you give people an in, or out, they will take it in that, especially during covid, folks stared to work the system and finesse the fine print to the max and plenty of businesses took contracts they knowingly couldn't fullfil

High turnover could be good as long as it's consistent, if it's starts to plummet, take heed and consider getting outta there.

Those layoffs are the key indicators of decline rn, hella business woulda been able to apply them loans better had it not been for the unpredictable layoffs.

S*** not gonna get better till we get a more direct response to the virus and workers health concerns.

SUPPLY

thanks for the info my g

It’s hard to accurately gauge what a true median salary is because there are different monikers my title can go under (sourcing specialist, buyer, supply chain specialist, etc) but the median average from what I quickly saw in my state is around $55k and I make well above that. My company is transparent with its pay scale and my intermediate level tops out a little under $100k. A lot of factors go into the pay though obviously

Last question.

stress level?
I have a MIS degree? Is your field approachable?

Yeah I’ve been keeping me ear to the ground and seeing how it goes. Fortunately for me our team is very small and I have a very good relationship with my manager. She has almost took me under her wing and I think based on our conversations she has plans for me to be a major contributor to our team and company. I told her as long as she stays I stay

There’s definitely a level of stress but I imagine that’s the same for all fields more or less. Really it’s a sink or swim field. If you have skills in communication, time management, multitasking, attention to detail, and being innovative you’ll more likely than not be successful.

As far as being approachable my situation is very unique and my previous employer had a program that allowed me to transfer into a SCM role from manual labor so that’s how I got in the field. I have a BA but that was a part of the program I was in. I basically used every opportunity that was given to me to get to where I am today. I believe a lot of entry level buyer roles require some degree in business though so you may be able to give it a shot

Great thread tbh, appreciate all of the insight here. Was already starting my xmas shopping with the assumption that s*** was going to get gnarly, but this is the first I'm hearing about tomatoes and tires.

Any other sectors y'all are keeping eyes on in particular? Weird times seem to be ahead yet again

Not good

Food prices going up is actually the worst that can happen

Mr Patricio says that consumers will need to get used to higher food prices given that the world's population is rising whilst the amount of land on which to grow food is not.

In the longer term "there's a lot to come in technology to improve the effectiveness of farmers" that will help.

Not all cost increases should be passed on to consumers, Mr Patricio said. Firms would have to absorb some of the rise in costs.

"I think it's up to us, and to the industry, and to the other companies to try to minimise these price increases," he said.

But big food producers like Kraft Heinz, Nestle and PepsiCo "will most likely have to pass that cost on to consumers" according to Kona Haque, head of research at the agricultural commodities firm ED&F Man.

Not even trying to go down a f*** capitalism rabbit hole, but this is so bleak. The point in the first paragraph is exactly why vertical farming is so compelling to me, but we're years away from that being a truly viable alternative to farming.

Transportation in general is f***ed. From cars, to planes, to bicycles, etc. So if you know your mode of transport is gonna need some maintenance in the coming year try and get ahead of that or just plan to budget a little extra.

Food prices going up across the board so just keep that in mind. Maybe think about getting cheap dried beans and rice, freezing them, and then storing them in a cool dark place just in case.

Now that climate change is causing weather to be more erratic just make sure that if your power goes out for a week you won't die. This means water, heat, and food. In that order.

Also something to keep in mind, EMS is warning us of a "crippling labor shortage" (wage shortage) undermining the whole 911 system. So you might call 911 in a true immediate emergency and they might say "soonest we can be there is 5 hours, so sit tight". link So maybe now is a good time to hit Walgreens and get some rolled gauze, neosporin, medical tape, bandages, etc. and brush up on basic basic emergency medic stuff. Like, watch youtube on how to dress a wound type beat. And brush up on general medical stuff like the differences between heart attack and stroke, Heimlich maneuver, etc. because again, help just might not come.

I'll try and think of more stuff as the day goes on.