Supply Chain Brief: Review of Food Supply Incidents

BLUF: Supply chain disruptions due to cullings, fires, and other incidents at plants/facilities from 2021 to 2023 have increased compared to previous years indicating an atypical series of events further stressing the industry.

2023

01/02/23 Fire at Associated Milk Producers facility in Portage, WI (caused butter to melt and clog canal and drainage systems).

1/11/23 Explosion/Dire at Carus Chemical Plant (potable water treatment) released potassium permanganate abrasive “oxidizer” into air, shutdown 15% of plant in La Salle, IL.

1/19/22 Ransomware attack on Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizzahut, etc).

1/20/23 Fire at Ship Creek pet food processing facility in Anchorage, AK.

1/13/22 Fire at Cargill-Nutrena feed mill, Lecompte, LA.

1/31/22 Fire at Weaver fertilizer plant, Winston-Salem, NC.

2/2/22 Fire at Percy Farm, Stowe, VT.

2/3/22 Fire at Wisconsin River Meats in Mauston, WI.

2/11/22 29,000 turkeys culled DuBois/Spencer Counties, IN.

2/15/22 Fire at Bonanza Meat Company, El Paso, TX.

2/16/22 Fire atlargest soybean/biodiesel plant, Claypool, IN.

2/18/22 Fire at Bess View Farm, St. Albans, VT.

2/19/22 Chemical leak at Costco supplier, Fremont, NE.

2/22/22 Fire at Shearer’s Foods plant, Hermiston, OR.

2/23/22 1.2 million chickens culled, New Castle County, DE.

2/28/22 Fire at Nutrien Ag Solutions plant, Sunnyside, WA.

2/28/22 Fire at Shadow Brook Farm, Lincoln, NE.

3/4/22 240,000 chickens culled, Stoddard County, MO.

3/11/22 Nearly 920,000 chickens culled, Taylor County, IA.

3/14/22 Fire at farm in Topton, PA.

3/16/22 3 million chickens culled, Jefferson County, WI.

3/16/22 Fire at Walmart distribution center in Plainfield, IN.

3/16/22 Fire at Nestle plant, Jonesboro, AR.

3/17/22 5.3 million chickens culled at Rembrandt Farms, Buena Vista County, IA.

3/21/22 85,000 birds culled in Charles Mix County, SD.

3/22/22 570,000 chickens culled, Butler County, NE.

3/22/22 Fire at PepsiCo plant, Piscataway, NJ.

3/24/22 Fire at Penobscot McCrum potatos, Belfast, ME.

3/26/22 250k chickens culled at Franklin County, IA.

3/28/22 Fire at pantry (50k lbs), Maricopa, AZ.

3/29/22 1.5 million chickens culled at egg farm, Guthrie County, IA.

3/31/22 Fire at Rio Fresh onion facilities, San Juan, TX.

4/6/22 371,352 chickens culled in Wayne/Johnston Counties, NC.

4/6/22 110,213 turkeys culled in Wayne/Johnston Counties, NC.

4/8/22 1.25 million turkeys/fowl culled in SD.

4/11/22 46,507 turkeys culled at Jennie-O farm, Barron, WI.

4/11/22 Fire at East Conway Beef and Pork, Conway, NH.

4/13/22 Fire at Taylor Farms plant, Salinas, CA.

4/13/22 1.7 million chickens culled, Dixon County, NE.

4/15/22 60,000 chickens culled at farm, Montrose County, CO.

4/19/22 Fire at Azure Standard organic foods, Dufur, OR.

4/21/22 Plane crash into General Mills plant, Covington, GA.

4/22/22 1.4 million chickens culled, Cache Valley, UT.

4/23/22 Fire at General Mills food plant, Cedar Rapids, IA.

4/27/22 2.1 million hens culled, Knox County, NE.

4/28/22 3,825,800 birds culled, Lancaster County, PA.

4/30/22 Fire at Perdue Farms, Chesapeake, VA.

5/1/22 13,800 chickens culled, Sequoyah County, OK.

5/1/22 Fire at Saladino’s food plant, Fresno, CA.

5/1/22 1,360,000 chickens culled, Weld County, CO.

5/4/22 State culls 1,200 pheasants, Sheridan, Freight train derails, Jensen Beach, FL.

5/23/22 4,700 ducks test get avian flu, Berks County, PA.

5/27/22 Drought to rice growers in Sacramento Valley, CA.

5/28/22 Fire at Forsman Farms, Stockholm Township, MN

6/2/22 30,100 ducks culled, Berks County, PA.

6/7/22 Fire at JBS meat packing plant, Green Bay, WI.

6/11/22 Closure at Smithfield pork plant, Vernon, CA.

6/13/22 Fire at Festive Foods, Belmont, WI.

6/15/22 3,000 cows die, Southwest KS.

6/23/22 Closure of George’s Prepared Foods, Caryville, TN.

8/10/22 Fire at Grain Craft flourmill in Pendleton, OR.

8/20/22 Fire at Riceland Foods parboil plant, Stuttgart, AR.

8/31/22 Fire at QC Poultry, Montebello, CA.

9/07/22 Fire at Global Food Processing Plant In Harford County, MD.

11/07/22 Explosions/Fire at Symrise Chemical Plant (food flavorings) near Brunswick, GA.

11/24/22 Fire Valley Proteins, LLC rendering plant in Saluda, SC.

12/5/22 Fire at the Tyson Foods plant in South Hutchinson, KS.

12/08/22 Explosion/fire at soybean processing facility in Marengo, IA.

12/6/22 Fire at food processing plant in Wilson, NC.

12/29/22 17,000 chickens culled (avian flu led to 57.8 million birds killed in 2022 and 141 million birds culled since 10/01/21) at Hearth and Haven Farm in Monroe, WA.

12/31/22 Fire at Praisealujah Food Distribution Center, loss of $1 million in food in SeaTac, WA.

2021

1/11/21 Fire at Deli-Star food plant, Fayetteville, IL.

4/29/21 Fire at Smithfield Foods, Monmouth, IL.

5/21/21 Ransomware attack on JBS USA (meat supplier).

7/25/21 Fire at Kellogg plant, Memphis, TN.

7/30/21 Fire at Tyson Foods/River Valley plant, Hanceville, AL.

8/23/21 Fire at Patak Meat Products plant, Austell, GA.

9/13/21 Fire at JBS beef packing plant, Grand Island, NE.

10/12/21 Fire at Darigold plant, Caldwell, ID.

11/14/21 Fire at Garrard County Food Pantry in KY

11/29/21 Fire at Maid-Rite Steak plant, Scott Township, PA.

12/12/21 Fire at West Side food plant, San Antonio, TX.

》Sources:

https://mynorthwest.com/3765250/more-than-1m-worth-of-food-wasted-as-fire-destroys-food-distribution-trailer-in-seatac/amp/ | https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/05/butter-wisconsin-dairy-plant-canal-melted | https://www.shawlocal.com/news-tribune/news/2023/01/19/more-than-1-million-pounds-of-chemical-lost-in-carus-fire-in-la-salle-15-of-plant-lost-in-damage/ | https://www.wral.com/amp/flames-burn-at-food-processing-plant-in-wilson/20615915/ | https://www.wrdw.com/2022/11/28/saluda-county-plant-looks-ahead-after-devastating-fire/?outputType=amp | https://www.heraldnet.com/news/its-a-killer-monroe-farm-loses-entire-flock-to-bird-flu/ | https://news.yahoo.com/explosion-fire-soybean-processing-facility-220512950.html | https://www.theepochtimes.com/fbi-warns-of-targeted-cyberattacks-on-food-plants-amid-heightened-coverage-of-fires_4423632.html | https://www.theepochtimes.com/food-processing-plants-hoping-to-rise-from-ashes-after-fires-disrupt-operations_4443268.html | https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/jeff-reynolds/2022/05/02/update-on-food-plants-more-fires-fbi-alert-one-off-the-wall-explanation-n1594505 | https://www.westernjournal.com/covid-whistleblower-military-vet-suggests-really-behind-food-plant-fires/ | https://passionateaboutfood.net/how-many-food-processing-plant-fires-in-2022/ | https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2022-05-03/fact-focus-food-plant-fires-fuel-conspiracy-theory | https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252529373/KFC-Pizza-Hut-parent-shuts-UK-restaurants-after-cyber-attack?amp=1 | https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/JBS-meat-producer-white-house-russia-ransomware/601119/