Pepperidge Farm's Milano and Chessmen cookies may be tough to find in stores during the holidays due to a shortage
- Pepperidge Farm cookies will face a shortage this holiday season, as its parent company has already increased production on other in-demand items and doesn't outsource the cookies to other manufacturers.
- Food shortages have become commonplace in 2020, as panic buying and disruptions in the food chain mean less food to go around.
Bad news for cookie lovers.
Pepperidge Farm-maker Campbell's Soup Co. has said its cookies are in short supply this season, as it works to remedy a perfect storm of labor shortages and increased demand, Bloomberg first reported. Impacted Campbell's brands include Milano and Chessmen Butter Cookies.
On a recent earnings call, Campbell's CEO Mark Clouse said the company has already increased production for Goldfish and its popular soup, which have also been in demand since the beginning of the pandemic.
But as the cookie division doesn't outsource making its cookies, it's been harder for Campbell's to boost production.
"This portfolio is unique with proprietary recipes, and therefore we do not outsource production," Campbell said in a statement to Bloomberg News. "We've prioritized increasing supply and are already leveraging capacity opportunities across the network to meet increases in demand and maximize availability."
Food shortages have become more common in 2020.
At the beginning of the pandemic in March, panic buying often led to items flying off shelves soon after they arrived in store.
While that trend has since subsided, increased efforts by suppliers to social distance employees and the closing of processing plants due to infections or out of abundance of caution have also caused shortages as well. Experts say this could be the case for the next year and a half.
Meat, berries, and other fresh produce are at the top of that list.