Starbucks reveals ‘supply shortages’ amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

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LOS ANGELES - Across the United States, customers and baristas are sounding off on the shortage of Starbucks ingredients as demand increases.

This comes as more people begin to frequent businesses in a recovering economy during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Starbucks confirmed the low supply of its products to FOX Television Stations.

"We are experiencing temporary supply shortages of some of our products. Specific items will vary by market and store, and some stores will experience outages of various items at the same time," a spokesperson for the company wrote. "We apologize for the inconvenience and are working quickly and closely with our supply chain vendors to restock items as soon as possible."

A video on TikTok earlier this week showed a group of employees screaming over a list of ingredients that their shop had run out of: vanilla, chai, white mocha, strawberry acai, mango, dragonfruit, coconut milk, almond milk, every food item, vanilla bean powder, sweet cream, whipped cream, heavy whipping cream, guava, peach and half and half cream.

The caption said they were also low on cold brew and a "will to live."

Several other companies are facing the struggle of supply issues as well during the ongoing pandemic.

In April, travel experts noted that the country was seeing a major car rental shortage as more vaccinated Americans hit the road and rental car companies have trouble keeping up with the demand.

The COVID-19 outbreak also led to an initial shortage of masks, gloves and other protective medical equipment. Automakers in the United States and Europe were also dealing with a shortage of computer chips.

Last year, Tyson Foods, one of the U.S.’s biggest meat processors, warned "the food supply chain is breaking."

"As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain," John Tyson, chairman of the board of Tyson Foods, wrote in a letter published in the New York Times as an advertisement. "As a result, there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed."

And as facilities begin to reopen, the demand continues to increase, putting a strain on supply chain production.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to invest more than $4 billion to strengthen critical supply chains through the Build Back Better initiative — the Biden administration’s plan to build a strong industrial base and strengthen the resilience of critical supply chains.

"The new effort will strengthen the food system, create new market opportunities, tackle the climate crisis, help communities that have been left behind, and support good-paying jobs throughout the supply chain," the USDA wrote.

"The COVID-19 pandemic led to massive disruption for growers and food workers. It exposed a food system that was rigid, consolidated, and fragile. Meanwhile, those growing, processing and preparing our food are earning less each year in a system that rewards size over all else," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

"The Build Back Better initiative will make meaningful investments to build a food system that is more resilient against shocks, delivers greater value to growers and workers, and offers consumers an affordable selection of healthy food produced and sourced locally and regionally by farmers and processors from diverse backgrounds. I am confident USDA’s investments will spur billions more in leveraged funding from the private sector and others as this initiative gains traction across the country," Vilsack said.

In February, Biden signed an executive order intended to boost manufacturing jobs by strengthening U.S. supply chains for advanced batteries, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and semiconductors.

"These are the kinds of common sense solutions that all Americans can get behind," Biden said at a White House ceremony. "It's about resilience, identifying possible points of vulnerabilities in our supply chains and making sure we have the backup alternatives or workarounds in place."

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