It has become a highly sought after item and sometimes difficult to find during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic...toilet paper.
The coronavirus outbreak has sent people rushing to stores to buy all the toilet paper they can find. That buying frenzy has created a shortage that is now being filled by Outlook Nebraska. Outlook Nebraska is the largest employer of the blind and visually impaired not a 7-state region.
Outlook Nebraska's Director of Operations Brad Sheets says "The demand across the country has made such a shortage that no one has ever seen before. Toilet paper production here is up from 30 tons daily to 50 tons each day. That's nearly 200,000 rolls of toilet paper."
The vast majority of that goes to government and military contracts.
CEO Eric Stueckrath says he couldn't have imagined supply lines being this vulnerable at this time. "The current situation we are in is obviously very serious and our team took it upon themselves to offer some products to the general public. That went pretty darn quick."
Outlook Nebraska recently released a paper towel line that is now being sold at area Hy-Vee stores and hopes to eventually make more product available to consumers should the need arise.