Restaurants cannot keep up with the demand for ketchup.
Prices for ketchup packages have risen 13% since January 2020, according to data from Plate IQ, a technology platform in the restaurant industry, reported by The Wall Street Journal. The scarcity of America’s favorite condiment is the latest to hit the food industry amid growing demand for take-out food amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Ketchup is the latest food shortage to reach restaurants and fast food chains.
(Phasin Sudjai)
The days of ketchup bottles shared at tables are now gone, now replaced by individual packages at many restaurants across the country. Current health and safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise restaurants to “avoid using or sharing reusable items such as menus, condiments and any other food containers” to contain the spread of the virus. More specifically, the CDC suggests the use of “single serving seasonings”.
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America’s most widely used ketchup brand, Heinz, which holds the majority of the market share in the United States, told the Journal that it plans to increase its production by about 25%, by more than 12 billion packages a year. The brand said it was unable to track orders for its ketchup packages. To combat this, restaurants reportedly struggled to find alternatives for spreading tomato sauce. Chains like Texas Roadhouse and Long John Silvers were reportedly at fault, with some employees having to go to big stores to buy other brands.
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With more people cooking at home during the pandemic, retail sales of ketchup increased by 15% in 2020, compared to 2019, according to data from market research firm Euromonitor, according to the Journal.
Ketchup is the latest product facing supply chain problems during the pandemic. There has been a shortage of flour since the great bakery boom in the early quarantine, when many Americans tried to bake leavened dough bread during the pandemic. Pepperoni was also at fault, with more people ordering pizza while ordering to stay home. And more people consuming alcohol and buying drinks for domestic consumption has led to a global shortage of aluminum cans.