If you've been shocked by the empty shelves at the supermarket, some very popular items
are expected to remain hard to get a hold of in 2022.
All the bacon and beer lovers out there, keep watching.
Among the problems Bloomberg found in an October 2021 investigation of food shortages was a
shortage of milk going to public schools in cities including Denver, and it turns out
that's not an isolated incident.
The problem?
It's not the cows.
U.S. Foods reported that prices were going to be on the rise, largely due to supply chain
difficulties and labor shortages that were causing a bottleneck in the chain.
It was a problem echoed by AGWeb, who noted that the entire industry was being impacted
by a shortage in labor nearly across the board.
From processing facilities and dairy plants to drivers, Daily Dairy Report analyst Monica
Ganley told AGWeb that:
"While dairy products are plentiful for now, these issues could work to keep markets tight
in coming weeks."
It's a problem that's not restricted to just the U.S.
In October 2021, Sky News reported that U.K. dairy farmers had been forced to dump tens
of thousands of liters of milk — with one farmer disposing of 40,000 liters over the
course of two months — because the nation faces a driver shortage so severe there just
hasn't been anyone available to pick up the milk.
Looking ahead to 2022, even Ireland is facing some serious problems: The Irish Examiner
reported that the consequences of a 65 percent drop in applicants looking for jobs in the
dairy sector are going to be devastating.
The Miami Herald says there technically isn't a shortage in pork and bacon yet, but there
are all kinds of things causing all kinds of issues.
It's making prices skyrocket, and it's leaving things a little more precarious than bacon
lovers might want.
These problems are hitting from beginning to end: Rising feed prices mean raising pigs
is getting more expensive, and while consumer demand is rising, there are still issues in
getting the supply chain to run smoothly and get the product onto store shelves.
Things are even more dire in the U.K., where Brexit has caused so many labor shortages
in the transportation industry and in meat processing plants that farmers are being forced
to cull healthy animals that would age out of usefulness before slaughterhouses can handle
them.
According to Sky News, as many as 150,000 animals could be destroyed, leaving farmers
in the lurch.
Pig Progress reported there's another thing that's likely to impact the availability of
your favorite pork products.
Even as COVID-19 caused a slew of problems, a new strain of something called the Porcine
Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome, or PRRS, virus devastated U.S. herds, leading
to the deaths of up to 35 percent of female pigs and piglets.
Love craft beers?
Look forward to picking up a few special bottles to celebrate a Friday night?
It might get a little more difficult to get your favorite brews come 2022.
The problem is twofold, and it starts with carbon dioxide, or CO2.
That, of course, is what makes beer fizzy, but according to Politics Home, it's going
to get harder for small-scale breweries to source CO2.
While large-scale breweries tend to have the facilities to contain the CO2 given off during
the manufacturing process and use that for carbonation, many smaller organizations don't
have that tech.
They need to buy in their CO2, and that's been in short supply since the start of the
pandemic.
Why?
Because, according to Reuters, the CO2 industry is reliant on ethanol production, which is
in turn connected to gasoline production.
Demand for gas dropped drastically during 2020, as did the demand for ethanol, and ultimately
that led to dwindling supplies of CO2.
The second part of the problem is a packaging one: According to Beverage Dynamics, everything
from glass and aluminum to labels, corks, and caps is in short supply.
"Just give him a G--damn beer!"
"Tristan, stay out of it!
I said, 'Stay out of it!'
Damn you! Damn fool!"
Prefer Coke to Pepsi?
If you do, it's entirely possible 2022 will be the year you'll need to broaden your horizons.
When James Quincey, CEO of Coca-Cola, spoke with CNBC in October 2021, he said that they
were pretty sure there were going to be what he called "sporadic" shortages in the coming
year.
He said:
"My analogy would be it's a bit like an earthquake.
You get further shock waves coming though, but they tend to be of diminishing magnitude."
As with other foodstuffs, Coke has been getting hit with major supply chain issues, along
with higher costs on the back end from things like rising gas costs and labor shortages.
Pepsi, on the other hand, seems to be doing a little better.
While Front Office Sports confirms that yes, they've been struggling with the same supply
chain problems and a lack of plastic bottles, they don't foresee the problems getting so
bad that the difficulties will be reflected on store shelves.
Salmon is one of the world's most popular fish, and about 40 percent of the global supply
of wild salmon comes from Alaska.
There's bad news, though: According to Bloomberg, stocks of wild salmon plummeted in 2020, putting
a serious hurt on the food supply.
According to the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, those numbers did return to normal
in 2021.
But fish, according to Alaska fishermen, aren't just getting fewer; they're getting smaller
— and it all has to do with a looming global catastrophe.
Sitka Salmon Shares fisherman Eric Jordan told Bloomberg:
"Climate change isn't a theory to me.
I deal with it every trip.
It's here.
It's happening."
And it's bad — climate change has been confirmed to be a major factor in the decline of wild
salmon, which have dropped from past numbers of around 2 million to fewer than 430,000.
It's also worth mentioning that while this salmon shortage is unfortunate for many people,
it's devastating for Alaska's native peoples.
Groups like the Yupiit have relied on salmon for generations — not only is it one of
the few reliable food sources for many, but it's a part of their cultural heritage.
When Civil Eats spoke to Serena Fitka, the head of the Yukon River Drainage Fisheries
Association, she described how terrifying it's been:
"People came to me and said, 'I don't know what to do.'"
That was echoed by the Tanana Chiefs Conference tribal resource manager Ben Stevens, who told
them:
"We have discerned a deeper sense of pain than we have ever seen before.
The people are scared to totally different levels."
The world needs all the help that it can get, that's no secret.
Coffee at least makes things a little better, but there's bad news here, too.
"Put that coffee down!
Coffee's for closers only."
In July 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that there was a massive problem with that
year's coffee harvest.
Prices were going through the roof as one of the world's biggest coffee growers and
exporters, Brazil, was facing what was described as "one of its worst droughts in almost a
century."
Coffee harvests had already been forecast to be bad, but they were way worse than expected.
Between just two companies, Rabobank and Volcafe, there was a decline of around 40 million bags.
By September, ABC News was reporting that the problem was getting worse.
Severe frost had added to Brazil's problems, while other climate-related disasters didn't
help matters either.
Prices continued to go up, but experts say it's going to get to the point where that's
not even going to matter — the coffee isn't going to be there to sell.
The forecast coffee shortage is expected to last at least three years.
The pandemic ruined a lot of things, and one of the supply chain issues that's proving
to be a continuing problem is sourcing aluminum cans.
According to WasteDive, beverage manufacturers in particular have had to scale back production
to fall in line with the number of cans they can source, and it's projected to be a continued
problem not just through 2022, but into 2023.
Quartz took an in-depth look at the problem in September 2021 and found that not only
was it a supply problem, but it was a demand problem, too.
During and after the pandemic, people had discovered that they could drink a beer from
the comfort of their own homes instead of going out and paying twice as much for that
same beer, and demand skyrocketed.
Add in the increasing popularity of hard seltzers, energy drinks, cocktails in a can, and other
canned goods, and that's all aluminum that has to come from somewhere.
And yes, that supply problem?
That's got a surprising source: China.
China's crackdown on energy usage in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly has resulted
in a shortage of aluminum, and experts say it's impossible to tell how long the shortage
will actually last.
In April of 2021, NASDAQ was already predicting a deficit in global chocolate stores.
Even though the chocolate harvest from the past year had been enough to leave the industry
sitting with a comfortable surplus, demand for chocolate during the pandemic skyrocketed
and quickly wiped out supplies.
The Centre for the Promotion of Imports from the Netherland Enterprise Agency explained
what's going on here, and it goes back to COVID-19.
While an uncertain economy put an end to a lot of spending on luxury items, chocolate
was one of those things that people could still affordably enjoy — and they did.
"How do you know you don't like chocolate if you've never tried it?"
"Do you like worms?"
"What?"
"How do you know if you've never tasted one."
It also had the benefit of being one of the luxuries available in one of the few places
still open for business: grocery stores.
That's led to demand running ahead of supply, and ZME Science reported it's probably going
to get worse.
There's a whole bunch of reasons why chocolate just might end up back on the unaffordable
and unattainable luxury list of things, and it's scary stuff.
The world's biggest chocolate-producing regions are suffering from not just political turmoil,
but from disease outbreaks that include Ebola.
Add in weather patterns and the fact that countries that previously produced their own
chocolate — like Brazil — have seen such a rise in demand that they're now importing
as well as producing, and you might want to rethink your reliance on chocolate.
It's no secret that restaurants were hard-hit by the closures and restrictions of the pandemic,
and according to Small Business Trends, they're going to continue to struggle — particularly
those that rely on a chicken-centric menu.
Chicken shortages — driven by devastating winter storms and pandemic-related shutdowns
at processing plants — shaped a huge part of the culinary landscape of 2021, forcing
countless restaurants to either rethink their menus or their pricing.
Even major chains needed to reevaluate, and suppliers are telling many of their customers
that they should probably expect shortages to continue into 2022.
It's also possible that 2022 is going to bring some major egg shortages, specifically in
Massachusetts.
It's being called "Egg Armageddon," according to Food Safety News, and it has to do with
2016 legislation that's taking effect on January 1, 2022.
Previously, egg-laying hens could be kept in enclosures that gave them between 6 and
12 square inches of floor space, but with new laws that bring the state more in line
with most of the U.S., that's going up to 1.5 square feet of space for each hen.
It's good news for the animals, but it's also putting serious pressure on farmers who won't
be able to produce if they can't provide for their hens.
Pasta was one of the in-demand items that customers sort of got used to seeing missing
from grocery store shelves during the pandemic.
It's versatile, has a long shelf life, and it's super easy, so it makes sense that people
would want to stock up.
Unfortunately, MSN reported that 2022 is likely to bring similarly bare shelves.
This time, it's because of the world's changing climate and the impact it's having on durum
wheat crops.
Farmers in Europe are fighting heavier-than-normal rains, while Canadian farmers are struggling
with heat and drought.
In late 2021, industry unions released an official statement, noted CGTN.
It said:
"Climate change is endangering the pasta market."
And that's a bigger deal than it might seem at first glance.
Pasta isn't just a quick, easy, and tasty weeknight meal, it's a staple in the diets
of people around the world.
If that disappears, it could have devastating effects on the world's food supplies.
The same extreme weather patterns were also impacting corn and other wheat crops.
According to NASDAQ, 2021's harvest is going to be of crops that, quote, "are in poor condition
at best."
And this may put serious pressure on not just pasta, but other corn and wheat products as
well.
Food shortages have people worried about how they're going to feed their families, and
that's extending to their furry family members, too.
In mid-2021, Reuters reported that pet owners across the U.S. were struggling to find some
of their canine and kitty companions' favorite foods.
They were scarce for many of the same reasons that some human foods were hard to find.
In addition to supply chain difficulties, though, there were a few other things at work.
More people were taking the plunge into pet ownership.
During the lockdowns of 2020, an estimated 12.6 million households adopted a new pet
to make staying home not-so-terrible — and this led to a surge in pet food demand.
"Okay, I don't need your attitude about setting the table.
Okay, don't be lazy."
Pet Food Industry reported that these shortages are likely to continue, and while experts
are hoping it's not going to last too far into 2022, some are saying that's pretty optimistic.
Problems might be shifting, but they're not going away any time soon.
Fortunately, there's good news: The industry is described as "remarkably resilient."
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