Emergency food supply after a blackout

By Herbert Saurugg 27 June 2023

In many areas, blackout preparedness is still reduced to the duration of the power cut itself, which falls well short.

A supra-regional power cut would immediately affect all areas of production and logistics and cause lengthy restart problems, which is often underestimated. The basic supply of essential goods and services to the population, especially the food supply, would also be particularly affected. Here are some experiences from blackout preparedness work with the food industry.

How is supply ensured?

The Austrian food industry, too, is now addressing the possible consequences of a supra-regional and prolonged power cut (“blackout”) or a possible electricity shortage. More and more companies are drawing up blackout preparedness plans. A frequently heard tenor: “A few months ago this would have caught us completely off guard. Now we are well organised and staff know what to do. In a few months we will also have the technical equipment needed to cope with such an event even better.” But also: “We are glad we now have these plans. Still, we hope we never have to use them.”

The blackout preparedness measures taken so far have already proved their worth several times during local power cuts. Many companies also agree that they are now quite well prepared themselves and know how to avoid damage and shut down safely, and what difficulties to expect when restarting. A prepared emergency cleaning routine reduces possible hygiene problems and allows a faster restart. What leaves everyone somewhat at a loss is their experience with customers, suppliers, logistics partners or authorities, where they have often found little preparation or engagement so far – up to and including the refusal of official permission to install emergency generators.

The authorities must provide clarity

A major problem is still the uncertainty about how long it might take for a large-scale power cut to be officially confirmed and communicated to the public. Yet every minute counts in averting unnecessary damage. It is therefore urgently necessary that the authorities also provide clarity and inform the public promptly. Unnecessary delays and damage would in any case have a negative effect on how long it takes to restore the supply of essential goods to the population.

Many are also preoccupied with the question of how a quick and orderly restart can succeed if everything first has to be coordinated in the crisis. Without appropriate preparation and coordination, the extremely high communication and coordination effort to be expected after such an event can hardly be managed in a reasonable time. That makes coordination now and the simplest possible procedures all the more important. In a severe crisis like this, only simple things work.

Raise staff awareness and involve them

A great deal of education and awareness-raising is still needed here, because, as we know, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Blackout preparedness is therefore not about whether individuals are well organised and prepared, but whether the broad mass can make a contribution. There are still considerable gaps here, usually starting with employees’ personal preparedness. If they have not made sufficient provision, every plan is void. If employees have a problem at home, they will not be available to the company’s crisis management for long, or not quickly enough. A central part of blackout preparedness therefore concerns raising staff awareness and calling on them to make their own provisions, which is the essential basis for all other measures.

Individual blackout preparedness concepts also require committed project staff and the necessary time to ensure swift processing and completion. The active involvement of staff is also indispensable. Processes must be kept simple and be present in employees’ minds. The aim should be to shut down and stop operations as quickly and orderly as possible once a large-scale power cut has been confirmed, because continued operation is not possible anywhere.

What happens to food waste?

This also means being able to store food leftovers, waste or semi-finished products for a certain time or, better still, giving as much as possible to staff to take home or supporting public distribution. Refuse collection does not work during this time either. Much food waste is also used as raw material in biogas plants or becomes problematic at higher temperatures. This raises the question of how well these plants are prepared and what happens if they fail, for example because of a shortage of raw material. Or what other effects can be expected in this secondary raw material cycle? How long will restarting take? In individual companies the amounts of waste may be manageable. In total, however, it can take on quite a different dimension. A system is simply more than the sum of its parts. As long as waste disposal is not working halfway again, resuming production or distribution of goods will often be difficult as well. Many companies have also drawn up an emergency production plan so that they can resume emergency production with the resources available on site as soon as possible after the power cut. The focus is on products that are easy to make, transport and store, in order to contribute to the emergency supply of the population or customers as quickly as possible. Not all the standard ingredients will always be available. But that should not be an obstacle as long as an edible product can be made. Customers, and the population in particular, still need to be told that normality will not return overnight, as there are too many dependencies and uncertainties. And it is crucial that the population is able to supply itself for a certain time. The ability to be self-sufficient for 14 days is the central prerequisite for restarting as many production and logistics processes as quickly as possible without immediately overloading them again. False expectations must therefore be dispelled. And some buyers and purchasers must also be disabused of the illusion that they can demand the impossible from producers by means of contracts.

What to do when the fridge doesn’t work?

Cold chains will be a particular problem; in food retail, for example, considerable technical faults are expected. This probably means that in the first days and weeks after the power cut, chilled goods will play a rather disorderly role. And here too, the first question is how to dispose of goods that could no longer be put into circulation. It is still completely unclear how such huge amounts of wet food waste can be disposed of – on top of household waste from fridges and other cooling appliances or from the catering trade. Another serious problem could arise from a prolonged failure or delayed restart of payment systems. This is not only about payments with customers at the till. Considerable problems could also arise in billing in production or logistics. Here, too, simple processes must be prepared with foresight. Because the most important thing in the restart is that the basic supply of essential goods to the population can be ensured again as quickly as possible, so that the general restart can also succeed. Sorting out the financial burdens and accounts will bring enormous challenges, but is not as time-critical as the basic supply. Pragmatic solutions are needed here as well. The better things are thought through and planned in advance, the better it will work. Without preparation, the chaos will only be greater.

Think logistics through carefully

The central link between all areas is logistics, and therefore often external service providers or partners. Here, too, complex problems and questions quickly arise: What information and instructions do lorry drivers have? How should they behave in a blackout? Can the goods still be accepted by the customer? How do drivers get home to their families? Do they have enough fuel in the tank? Perhaps also to keep raw materials or goods refrigerated? What happens to drivers who come from distant regions, for example, and can no longer return? Can they be looked after?

If these questions cannot be answered satisfactorily, additional chaos quickly threatens, which would considerably delay the restart. Unfortunately, this area is still hard to see through and address because of the many different responsibilities involved. But without logistics, a quick restart will not succeed. And that includes the fuel supply, which will foreseeably have to be rationed after the power cut until fuel logistics are working sufficiently again. Here, too, sound blackout preparedness can often find synergies with other companies, and not everyone has to reinvent the wheel. It would be important for loaded refrigerated vehicles to be able to keep cooling for as long as possible so that goods or raw materials do not spoil. Cold stores and warehouses are usually closed immediately to retain the cold for as long as possible. Supplying refrigerated lorries with fuel is therefore an important point, even if this may not be the direct responsibility of the recipient. Because blackout preparedness is not only about avoiding damage to oneself, but also about avoiding wider damage to society.

The restart is made more difficult by the enormous coordination effort: How long after a power cut will it take for telecommunications to work again? What damage has been done to production, to products, etc.? What problems do customers have? Which goods can they accept at all? What demand do they expect? What problems are to be expected in (supra-regional) logistics? What substitute measures are possible? What storage capacity is available? Who has to start first so that the whole chain can be synchronised again? How can billing and accounting be done? And much more.

Goods and raw materials that require refrigeration are also a major issue. What happens if the usual cold chains with very high quality requirements and specifications cannot be maintained? Where is the line between careless disposal at a time when massive shortages are to be expected and the risk of an even more dangerous health crisis? There are hardly any generally valid answers here either. That makes it all the more important to prepare and set appropriate crisis standards in order to meet both requirements as well as possible. There will hardly be time for this in the crisis, quite apart from the fact that communication and coordination will be very difficult. The more clearly this has been defined in advance, the faster rationing and prioritisation can be carried out and valuable time gained. The decree GZ 2023-0.273.265 of 5 May 2023 by the Austrian Ministry of Health (German) offers some guidance on this.

Preventing looting

With every day of standstill and lack of supply to the population, security problems will also increase. The greatest danger lies in the destruction and looting of shops or even production facilities and warehouses. That would delay the restart dramatically. Without adequate preparation of the population, such a development must be expected sooner or later. The risk grows exponentially with every day of standstill. Here, too, appropriate precautions and cooperation with the municipalities concerned are indispensable. The better the preparedness and the better prepared the structures and emergency measures, the longer such upheavals can be delayed. It is naive and starry-eyed to rely on someone else taking care of it and having it under control.

Many companies keep raw materials on site for several days, and in some cases longer, in order to ensure emergency production. But what happens if, as is to be expected, resupplies cannot arrive quickly enough or in the necessary quantities, especially if the resources do not come from the region? Then, after the supply has first started up again, further serious supply gaps are likely. That is why it would be all the more important for the authorities to prepare rationing measures now, in cooperation with the food industry, so that they can act quickly if necessary. There is a law on the management of food supplies (Lebensmittelbewirtschaftungsgesetz) that is supposed to allow such steering, but putting it into practice also requires preparation on the ground, which must be done now.

What happens once the power is back?

Food retailers have already agreed on an emergency procedure for handing out perishable goods and have also communicated this publicly, but as so often, the devil is in the detail. The far more serious supply crisis, however, only begins once the power is already flowing again. Concrete thinking is often still lacking here and must be initiated by all sides.

It quickly becomes clear that a comprehensive restart of supplies will not work even after a supra-regional power cut lasting only a few hours, or merely in the course of a possible electricity shortage. Rather, it could take days before telecommunications or logistics and payment systems and logistical synchronisation can start up again. Even then we would still be a long way from the level of functionality we are used to and need in everyday life. That makes it all the more important to put the multi-layered and exaggerated expectations of the population – but also of many authorities and organisations with security tasks, decision-makers and even customers – into perspective and to create clarity. Glossing over things helps no one and will backfire in the crisis at the latest. While many ad hoc procedures were still possible during the coronavirus pandemic, this will hardly be possible in a blackout. During the coronavirus crisis, at least telecommunications and logistics always worked – two decisive factors that are often underestimated when it comes to a blackout.

In conclusion

Citizens’ self-sufficiency is decisive

The preparations in the food industry so far have made it clear that a sufficient buffer of self-sufficiency among the population, among employees, but also among large customers, who in turn have to supply people with special needs, is of decisive importance for the restart and cannot be replaced by any other measures. Unfortunately, no one has yet been found who would communicate this clearly and unambiguously to the public. But there will be no way around it.

Kind regards Herbert Saurugg

Article on LinkedIn (German)