Coronavirus impact on sales

Rabobank held a webinar last week, discussing wider themes in how the food and drink industry is responding to the coronavirus outbreak.

• Manufacturers – keeping up with higher retail demand and the shift away from eating out have been key challenges.

• Retail – employee recognition and new ecommerce purchasers have been extra factors.

• Beverages – water, soft drinks and sports drinks have been winners. Craft beer, spirits, speciality coffee and cocktail mixers have lost out. Bigger stores and bigger brands have gained most.

• Dairy – milk, powdered milk and cheese retail demand has been strong, but foodservice and China sales are down.

Looking to the future, the main question appears to be whether the ensuing economic downturn will be V-shaped or U-shaped.

Extra sensitivity to social impact is also deemed likely, especially in packaging, waste and sustainability.