John Vena, of John Vena, Inc may not be at the center of the blizzard, but is predicting the effects on transport. “We are based in Philadelphia and so far, we only expect minor disruptions to our outbound distribution operations,” explains Vena, “However, this particular storm will paralyse the port of New York for a couple of days. That will certainly result in massive delays due to weather.”
With over 3000 flights cancelled in New England due to the storm, exports are not the only products influenced. “This weather promises to make inbound product very difficult,” states Vena.
Early indication of shipment delays is present within New York as the aggressive weather took ports by surprise. “We have already been experiencing some delays due to general port congestion as a result of the service providers within New York not having the promised resources to handle normal weather conditions,” explains Vena.
However, New York is optimistic on export issues. “New York and New England is used to dealing with this type of weather,” explains Julia Stewart of the New York Apple Association. “The snow will be cleared out within a couple of days, so we do not expect an impact on export activities.”
As travel warnings were issued, many shoppers flocked to the grocery stores to stock up. As what often happens preceding an announced natural disaster, what may have began as a desire to stock up on a couple of necessities, quickly turned into full parking lots, empty shelves and supermarket employees fighting through the crowds to restock shelves.
Some consumers decided to let someone else fight the crowds for them. Peapod and Instacart have both reported a surge in delivery orders shortly before the storm. However, also needing to take care of their employees, Instacart released a statement saying that they would only “stay open as long as we feel we can while keeping our shoppers safe.”
For more information:
John Vena
John Vena, Inc
Tel: 215-336-0766
sales@johnvenaproduce.com
www.johnvenaproduce.com
Julia Stewart
New York Apple Association
Tel: 585-924-2171
www.nyapplecountry.com