There's A Ketchup Shortage, So We May Have To Take Matters Into Our Own Heinz [Updated]

Update, June 16, 2021: Looks like the Heinz ketchup package shortage might be coming to an end. Forexlive reports that this upcoming July, production of packets will be cranked up by 25%, which will eventually solve the scarcity issue. This info was revealed by Kraft Heinz CEO, Miguel Patricio during an interview; Patricio said Heinz saw the issue coming last year and got to work building eight new production lines. So far, he says, Heinz hasn't had to pass on the cost of inflation to consumers. Forexlive suggests that supply bottlenecks in other industries will ease up slowly as well.

Original Post, April 7, 2021: Consider this the first official memo from the Ketchup-Loving Adults Club (KLAC). As the club's self-appointed president, I've got some troubling news: restaurants across the U.S. are running out of ketchup packets.

There are a few reasons for the mayhem, The Wall Street Journal tells us. First, the pandemic forced restaurants to shift from indoor dining to takeout, increasing the demand for individual to-go ketchup packets. Even restaurants open for indoor dining leaned into individual packets in order to comply with COVID-19 guidelines that recommended individual condiment packets over tabletop bottles to curb customer touch points. The shortage has been a long time coming: back in July of last year, CNN reported a 40% increase in single-serve condiment sales compared to 2019. Additionally, stay-at-home orders may have sparked up to a 15% increase in retail ketchup sales, WSJ reports, suggesting that consumers are turning to condiments to scare away their pandemic malaise. Smart, I think.

Here's the scariest part: Heinz, the superior ketchup (as recognized by KLAC), is struggling the most. WSJ explains that Heinz holds nearly 70% of the U.S. retail market for ketchup, and the company's being forced to open up new manufacturing lines to increase production and meet demand. In the meantime, some restaurants are settling for... generic brands. Don't even speak the name of Red Gold.

This concludes today's official KLAC memo. For further news and ketchup-coated camaraderie, await our ketchup signal. I'm not sure what that'll look like, but it'll be pretty unmistakable.