Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Financial Characteristics of Corporations in the Agri-food Supply Chain in Japan

This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the agri-food supply chain in Japan in terms of firms' financial characteristics, focusing on profitability, safety, and productivity-related indicators. We used the dataset of TKC Management Indicators (BAST) (Summary Version) from 2019 to 2021. The agri-food supply chain industries we focus on are "Agriculture," "Manufacture of food," "Wholesale trade (food and beverages)," "Retail trade (food and beverages)," "Eating and drinking places," and "Food take-out and delivery services." The results revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, "Agriculture" had high profitability and safety in the agri-food supply chain, making it the most resilient during the pandemic. Based on these results, we identified potential factors that affected profitability and safety in "Dairy cattle farming" during the pandemic: government support policies and a decline in beef consumption due to a drop in inbound demand. In addition, for "Rice farming," we identified government policy support, such as subsidies, and high value-added through direct sales to consumers.