This pandemic-related shortage is hitting close to home.
Restaurants and fast-food chains are experiencing shortages of ketchup as calls for takeout and delivery have increased and local brand Heinz, which has the “highest market share” of the condiment, has been hit the hardest, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Data from research firm Euromonitor show that retail ketchup sales in 2020 were around 15 percent higher than in 2019, as reported by the Journal.
The latest shortage: ketchup. When restaurants ran short on Heinz, some managers scoured the aisles of Costco to find substitutes. https://t.co/PygQzKmToP
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 6, 2021
Plus, with the Centers for Disease Control suggesting restaurants refrain from using ketchup bottles, packets have been in particular demand.
So Kraft Heinz announced on Tuesday that it is taking steps to increase supplies, such as adding new manufacturing lines, beginning with two in April, that will increase production by about 25% for a total of more than 12 billion packets a year, USA Today reported.
In the meantime, Newsweek reported, restaurants are having to find alternatives or use generic brands.
