Supply chain problems reach a far corner of the business universe: ketchup packages.
After enduring a year of closures, employee safety fears, and initial openings, American restaurants are now facing a shortage of tomato sauce nationwide. Restaurants are trying to secure the table staple after Covid-19 changed the world order of condiments. Administrators use generic versions, pour bulk tomato sauce into individual cups, and place in Costco aisles for substitutes.
“We’ve been hunting highs and lows,” said Chris Fuselier, owner of Denver-based Blake Street Tavern, which has struggled to keep tomato sauce in stock for much of this year.
The pandemic turned many seated restaurants into takeaway specialists, turning tomato sauce packets into the main currency of condiment for both national chains and mom and pop restaurants. Package prices have risen 13% since January 2020 and their market share has exploded at the expense of desktop bottles, according to the restaurant-company platform Plate IQ.
Even fast food giants ask for packages. Long John Silver’s LLC, a chain of nearly 700 units, had to seek tomato sauce from secondary suppliers due to the rush of demand. The industry’s pandemic shift to packages has pushed up prices, costing the Louisville, Ky-based company an additional half a million dollars, according to executives, as the single service is more expensive. than bulk.