Sacramento grocery store Corti Brothers finds new way to ensure holiday favorites are on shelves
SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento grocery store is finding a new way to ensure its holiday items are on shelves in time.
Experts anticipate supply chain issues and increase in costs will impact grocery stores big and small throughout the holiday season.
Holiday shoppers will likely have less to choose from and pay more for holiday items this year.
Analysts say prices at major grocery stores may increase this holiday season and certain items may be in short supply due to transportation costs. While there may not be acute production-based shortages, transportation disruptions will be reflected on prices.
"This small company actually has more resources than a typical chain store," Store Director for Corti Brothers, Rick Mindermann said.
Mindermann says Corti Brothers, an independent grocery store, has an advantage over larger grocery stores because they purchase items from local growers and vendors.
Mindermann says buying locally helps them avoid supply chain issues. However, they do purchase a few items from overseas.
This past Easter, a shipment of panettone was delayed by more than a month due to a bottleneck in transportation on the west coast. To avoid a similar situation this holiday season, they made a major adjustment to the shipments route.
"We had it shipped into Charleston, South Carolina. It will be trucked here. So, it will probably be even a few weeks earlier than normal," Mindermann said.
Financial expert Sonjay Varshney says supply chain issues are improving from last year, but it doesn't mean certain items will be abundant at most grocery stores.
"That's because the cost has risen and that may actually make in some cases supply chain issues as bad as last year," Varshney said.
