Experts stated they expect the holiday season demand in the food retail sector to spike significantly. Thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, general consumer behavior changed. There have been more online shopping, and there are expectations for even more demand since the epidemic disrupted the supply chain immensely. Jon Samson, executive director of the Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference at American Trucking Associations, stated that he was optimistic that they would match the expected. He added that the foodservice sectors would experience lesser business as the grocery sector grows even further.

John Stanton, a professor of food marketing at St. Joseph's University, stayed a bit modest, claiming that it would be too early to predict how the holidays would look like. And while the most people operating indoors, food and beverages are expected to be the most purchased. Stanton reiterated how most people have reverted to cooking and therefore slowly chocking the foodservice industry. Also, Stanton added that truckers don’t have it all under control as there are challenges as far as driver and capacity availability are concerned. Truckers that work with the foodservice industry will be on the same sinking ship with the industry.

Switch to online grocery shopping

C.H. Robinson projected a $250 billion shift from food services to eating at home. Reports also indicated a significant switch to online grocery shopping. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that demand is expected to grow or at least be more unpredictable with the reduced size gatherings.

Bain & Co. released a forecastshowing that there would be an increase in sales. The estimates showed thatthere would be a continued trend upwards for food and beverages. Samson saidthat he is looking forward to seeing how people will handle themselvesconcerning CDC regulations during the festivities. 

Truckstop.com Chief Relationship Officer Brent Hutto warned the freight industry of the sizeable inevitable capacity they will have to handle. And even now Truckstop.com is experiencing the effect as they are dealing with lots of loads already. Hutto was confident that the holiday season demand wouldn't go any lower than the current rates. C.H. Robinson promised to help retailers that use their transportation management system, Navisphere, in the quest as the increase in demand is expected to be so great, according to Mark Petersen, vice president of North American surface transportation C.H. Robinson.