food supply chain – OM in the News

Huy Fong’s Sriracha Shortage

In the United States, if you think of sriracha sauce, you immediately think of Huy Fong’s Sriracha Sauce with the rooster on the bottle.

Unfortunately, customers in the U.S. have seen a shortage of Huy Fong’s popular sauce for the last three years. And it may continue.

Part of the problem comes from droughts impacting the production of the red jalapeño peppers that go into the sauce. However, there is more to the story.

For over 28 years, Underwood Farms provided the peppers […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2023-11-08T06:09:21+00:00November 8, 2023|Tags: food supply chain, shortages, supplier relationship|

Costs of Quality: Tulare Lake Flooding

Much of California’s most productive farmland has yet to emerge from flooding caused by this winter’s torrential rain and snow storms.

Anticipated snow melt from a snowpack 300% of average threatens to put valley areas under even more water as it begins to flow down from the mountains. The melt exceeds the capacity of lakes, dams, and rivers.

Flooding in the Tulare Lake and Monterey areas in March 2023 ruined many crops. Consumers across the country will feel the impact of higher […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2023-04-28T22:30:51+00:00April 28, 2023|Tags: capacity planning, cost of quality, food supply chain, forecasting, inventory management, quality, supply chain|

TikTok Inspired Chipotle’s Fajita Quesadilla

Social media can greatly influence customer demand, and disrupt operations. Such is the case with TikTok and Chipotle.

Two TikTok influencers, Keith Lee and Alexis Frost, endorsed a menu hack that went viral. Initially, the restaurant wasn’t ready for the off-menu item, and some restaurants wouldn’t let customers order the item. This put stress on Chipotle’s systems and employees—not to mention creating unhappy customers who went online to complain about not being able to get the quesadilla.

However, Chipotle decided to listen […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2023-03-22T05:02:29+00:00March 26, 2023|Tags: food supply chain, inventory management, new product design, product design, sourcing, voice of the customer|

Chick-fil-A’s Cauliflower Sandwich

After four years of iterations with multiple vegetables, from beets to mushrooms, Chick-fil-A is adding a plant-based category to its menu.

Unlike other quick serve restaurants’ (QSR) menu items which resemble their meat counterpart, such as Burger King with the Impossible Whopper, Chick-fil-A decided on a cauliflower sandwich.

Customer research indicated that customers not only want more vegetables, they want something identifiable as a vegetable, yet still with the delicious taste of Chick-fil-A. The decision to go with cauliflower differentiates Chick-fil-A from […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2023-02-26T08:32:01+00:00February 26, 2023|Tags: food supply chain, forecasting, House of Quality, inventory management, limited time offering, new product development, perishable inventory management, product development, supply chain management, voice of the customer|