Grocers have struggled to get their hands on certain items due to similar staffing shortages up the various food supply chains they rely on, forcing them to seek out different brands or to simply leave the shelves empty. For example, Reuters reports that there’s been a spate of infections among inspectors at meat plants, who according to federal law must approve meat products before they are sold commercially. The USDA has been trying to send inspectors to staff shortage hotspots, such as Wisconsin, in response. The United Food and Commercial Workers has further noted an uptick of infections among meatpacking workers, particularly at plants that have not urged their staffs to get booster shots. And slaughterhouses have been operating at lower capacity due to short-handed crews; on Friday, the number of cattle slaughtered was down 6 percent, and the number of pigs slaughtered down 5 percent, compared to last year, according to the USDA. Altogether, these supply chain hiccups, inflation, and booming demand may lead to further increases in meat prices.

A similar story is also playing out in other food sectors, just with different types of workers and products. In a Thursday earnings call for Conagra, a major supermarket supplier that sells products like Reddi-Wip and Orville Redenbacher’s, CEO Sean Connolly predicted that omicron-induced labor outages could strain supply chains for “the next month or so.” (Sorry, popcorn lovers.) Winter storms also appear to be contributing to the problem, with road conditions making it difficult for drivers to make deliveries and consumers hoarding in case they get snowed in.