Hannaford still dealing with shortages after last week's fire

Last week’s fire at Hannaford’s distribution center in South Portland continues to impact the supply chain for fresh food items, particularly produce, at some of the supermarket chain’s stores in Maine.

“Depending on what store you go to, there may be some shortages,” Hannaford spokesman Eric Blom told Mainebiz Monday afternoon. “We did have some delayed deliveries that resulted in low inventories at some stores. We are catching up and we very much appreciate our customers’ patience as we get back to 100%.”

Blom did not have an estimate of when everything would return to normal, or for how much the warehouse fire and resulting supply chain problems might be costing Hannaford.

In the meantime, he said, Hannaford distribution centers in Schodack, N.Y., and in Winthrop were covering for the South Portland warehouse and making fresh food deliveries to its stores in Maine.

Hannaford’s distribution center off Hemco Road in South Portland suffered minor damage from a fire last Wednesday night that initially broke out in a partially loaded refrigerated tractor-trailer parked next to a loading bay. The fire destroyed the truck and spread to a second trailer, forcing the evacuation of the distribution center.

South Portland Fire Department spokesman Robb Couture told the Portland Press Herald last week that there was significant loss of food from the fire.

Scarborough-based Hannaford has 62 stores in Maine and 181 total in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and New York. It is owned by the supermarket conglomerate Ahold Delhaize.