Shortages hit home Global supply chain issues affect school operations

Harper Harris, Features Editor and Danya Risam-Chandi, Staff Writer

Global supply chains have been under pressure due to high demands of product. This struggle started in 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic causing many businesses to shut down, leaving some companies needing more products than ever before. Global container shipping rates have quadrupled since 2020, causing shipping to cost more and take longer. There simply is too much product and not enough people to move the product. More recently, basic items such as paper goods, eggs, steel and concrete have inflated in price and become more difficult to find.

At Hockaday, supply chain issues have greatly affected Sage and the way it prepares meals. General manager of Sage at Hockaday, Hillary Cox, said that there have been issues finding certain food items that used to be easy to find that are important to their menus.

“A lot of the companies that we get products from have shortages,” Cox said. “So then that affects what we are able to get if they are not able to get them. Pocket snack items, ketchup, paper products, specialty bread items and salmon have been very difficult to find.”

Cox said Sage plans menus weeks in advance to keep these shortages from affecting the food they can serve.

“Just planning ahead and trying to get the bulk of the items that have been a part of the shortage earlier than later,” Cox said. “Then also changing menu items if we need to, just based around what all is going on.”

The dining hall has not been the only place that has seen a direct impact of these setbacks.

Chief Operations Officer Joan Guzman said these issues have greatly impacted the new athletic plan the school broke ground on in July.

“What we have seen is that construction materials, things like concrete or steel, have not only skyrocketed in price, but lumber has been going up and down,” Guzman said.

He said basic items that used to take only a few weeks or months are now taking up to a year to arrive due to these supply chain issues.

“We have a significant electric project where we are going to redo some major electrical