Supply chain shortages impacting Fayette school cafeterias

From Pop-Tarts to cereal, Fayette schools are beginning to see sporadic impacts of national supply chain shortages in their cafeterias.

“Unfortunately, I need to make you aware that we are beginning to see the impact of national supply chain shortages in our cafeteria kitchens,” Superintendent Demetrus Liggins told parents in a newsletter this week. “Although our team is working diligently to source food items and placing orders well in advance, our vendors and distributors are not always able to get things from their suppliers.”

The New York Times has reported that the pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain, the path of “manufacturing, transportation and logistics that gets goods from where they are manufactured, mined or grown to where they are going. “

“At the end of the chain is another company or a consumer who has paid for the finished product. Scarcity has caused the prices of many things to go higher,” that newspaper reported.

Liggins has said that the district has plenty of food and will be able to continue providing hot, fresh meals to students each day.

“But from day to day, some menu items may be in short supply,” he said.

Every week, when district staff place orders, they encounter shortages. Items might not be available at one point but are available again in a few weeks, district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said.

Cafeterias, at various times, have been unable to get oriental chicken or UnCrustables, a brand of premade sandwiches. There have been low supplies or increasing outages in Pop-Tarts, cereals, and crackers.

Frozen breakfast items, such as french toast sticks, have been in short supply.

There have been shortages in paper supplies and foam containers, even in cups used for dipping sauces.

One vendor told school district officials that the supply chain problem may continue for another 10 to 20 months.

Supply chain issues are occurring for various reasons.

Raw material is short in some cases, vendors have told district staff. Demand is exceeding supply.

One vendor said production has been suspended on some items due to “production equipment issues, labor and capacity challenges,” Deffendall said.

Produce coming from the west coast has had an increase in freight costs due to a lack of drivers.

Vendors do not have control over supplies, labor and arrival times, Deffendall said. District staff received word from one vendor that a fire at a cereal plant is expected to cause shortages of one brand for months.

The Fayette school child nutrition team is monitoring the shortages closely and making substitutions as necessary, Liggins said. Deffendall said if french toast is unavailable, pancakes are being served.

“The shortages are intermittent and we look to find substitute items from different vendors so that we can maintain continuity in our menu,” said Deffendall.

Liggins asked families to tell children that sometimes the menu will change.

Other parts of the state are starting to feel national supply chain shortages too.

WPSD in Western Kentucky reported earlier this month that Marshall County Schools ordered 616 line items in one week, and 56 percent of the orders were unfulfilled.

On another front, Liggins said employee shortages in the district — among cafeteria workers and school bus drivers — have improved.

“We are thrilled to report that we only have two openings in our child nutrition department and that we have 27 individuals in our bus driver class right now,” Liggins said. “We currently have 19 trainees who we believe will be ready to start driving buses regularly in just a few weeks.”