Food & Beverage

Some Wendy's run short of beef

Logo: File

May 5, 2020

As Wendy's rolls out a type of online scavenger hunt promotion for its customers, many of its customers are wondering if the brand is having trouble of late on its hunt for beef. The burger QSR said that it's "hiding" gift card codes across its digital channels as a sort of online treasure hunt for guests this week,but a report first detailed on Bloomberg, suggests some of the brand's stores are being effected by slaughterhouse closures and a pending meat shortage. 

Like the  pork shortages QSRweb reported several weeks ago, North American beef suppliers are also reporting that the beef supply is threatened as well by slaughterhouse closures related to COVID-19. In all about 12 slaughterhouses closed in April, which a Bloomberg article reported had occurred because "infections among employees jammed together on processing lines."

The Bloomberg story was triggered when Wendy's customers took to social media to complain several restaurants had, according to the posts, run out of beef. The problems triggered sarcastic remarks referring back to the brand's classic "Where's the beef?" ad campaign in the 1980s. 

One customer tweeted the brand, asking if there was a beef shortage for the brand because the restaurant she ordered from advised it had "no beef available."

This morning, Wendy's Senior Director, Global Communications & Customer Care Heidi Schauer told QSRweb in an email that the brand is working hard to deal with the issues in the beef supply. 

"It is widely known that beef suppliers across North America are currently facing production challenges," she said in an email to this website. "We continue to supply hamburgers to all of our restaurants, with deliveries two or three times a week, which is consistent with normal delivery schedules. However, some of our menu items may be temporarily limited at some restaurants in this current environment. We're working diligently to minimize the impact to our customers and restaurants, and continue to work with our supplier partners to monitor this closely."

Bloomberg reported that in some areas of California, only chicken was available, though Schauer did not provide further details. And returning to that "hunt-related" promotion, Wendy's is now "hiding" gift card codes across its digital channels as a sort of online treasure hunt for guests this week, through Friday, it said in an email. Over the five-day period that started Monday, Wendy's plans to give away $5,000 in prizes to the individuals who follow daily hints online and find the code first.