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COVID‐19 and food processing in Canada

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  • Getu Hailu

Abstract

In this paper, I explore the economic activities of the food processing industry during the coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. One of the key lessons from food processing and related industries is that without being designated as an essential service and targeted stimulus packages, the food industry could have fallen victim to the COVID‐19 crisis. Although the social and economic impacts of the interventions are not clear, being designated as an essential service was likely far more important to the food industry than the targeted stimulus packages. The pandemic and shutdown orders had a considerable production reallocation effect. Some processors have seen temporary closure and reduced capacity utilization. On the upside, disruptions in the food processing sector have not been as severe as in non‐essential sectors. The food processing sector has proven to be relatively stable during the pandemic – food was still processed and delivered to consumers and food price increases were minimal in most cases given the scale of the shock. Moving forward, because COVID‐19 is a global crisis, internationally targeted and coordinated efforts to tackle the virus could place the industry on a strong trajectory towards economic recovery and growth. Résumé Dans cet article, j'explore les activités économiques de l'industrie de la transformation des aliments pendant la pandémie COVID‐19. L'une des principales leçons tirées de la transformation des aliments et des industries connexes est que sans être désignée comme un service essentiel et visée par des plans de relance ciblés, l'industrie alimentaire aurait pu être victime de la crise du COVID‐19. Bien que les impacts sociaux et économiques des interventions ne soient pas clairs, être désigné comme un service essentiel était probablement beaucoup plus important pour l'industrie alimentaire que les plans de relance ciblés. La pandémie et les ordres d'arrêt ont eu un effet considérable de réallocation de la production. Certains transformateurs ont connu des fermetures temporaires et une utilisation réduite de leurs capacités. Les perturbations dans le secteur de la transformation des aliments n'ont pas été aussi graves que dans les secteurs non essentiels. Le secteur de la transformation des aliments s'est avéré relativement stable pendant la pandémie ‐ les aliments étaient encore transformés et livrés aux consommateurs et les augmentations des prix des denrées alimentaires ont été minimes dans la plupart des cas compte tenu de l'ampleur du choc. À l'avenir, parce que le COVID‐19 est une crise mondiale, des efforts coordonnés et ciblés au niveau international pour lutter contre le virus pourraient placer l'industrie sur une trajectoire solide vers la reprise économique et la croissance.

Suggested Citation

  • Getu Hailu, 2021. "COVID‐19 and food processing in Canada," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(2), pages 177-187, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:69:y:2021:i:2:p:177-187
    DOI: 10.1111/cjag.12286
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    1. Florian Rösler & Judith Kreyenschmidt & Guido Ritter, 2021. "Recommendation of Good Practice in the Food-Processing Industry for Preventing and Handling Food Loss and Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-30, August.
    2. Donatella Saccone & Elena Vallino, 2025. "Global food security in a turbulent world: reviewing the impacts of the pandemic, the war and climate change," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-36, December.

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