Coronavirus concerns drive huge sales growth for pantry staples.

Consumers in the U.S. went into full-on pantry stocking mode after President Donald Trump first acknowledged the threat of coronavirus to the nation in a late-February press conference, according to statistics Nielsen emailed to Food Dive. Compared to 2019, sales of many staples zoomed upward in the four weeks ending on March 7. Sales growth was especially high the week of March 1 to 7, compared to the previous year.