Changes in food industry trends in Ukraine under Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the changes in food industry development in Ukraine during COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the financial statements of 10 Ukrainian large food producers for 2018-2020, we studied factors influencing the dynamics of their assets and production, performance and ability to adapt to the changes caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The studies were carried out using the twofactor model of return on assets, the Cobb-Douglas production function, the dynamic model of the enterprise. The obtained results indicate the decline in the return on assets for the sample of companies, their use of stock-saving model of production, and the low level of adaptation to work under COVID-19. As calculations have shown, this decrease in the return on assets was caused by the low efficiency of the operating activities of food producers, in particular, the decrease in net income. The twofactor Cobb-Douglas manufacturing model was constructed using statistical data based on the food producers' sample for 2018-2020. The empirical results discovered the significant changes in the key factors for food manufacturing. The most important trend that was noticed is the transition from extensive to intensive production. As methodological basis for the study the authors also used a organization dynamic model in conformity within which a quality of socio-economic system dynamics is defined on the basis of correlation of indicators of profit, net income and assets growth rates. Based on the rank correlation coefficients the authors concluded about low adaptability level of Ukrainian food companies for the pandemic COVID-19. JEL: L23, L25, L66.