Increase in takeout orders may be to blame for creating a condiment crisis

Restaurants experience ketchup shortage due to pandemic

FILE - In this Aug. 8, 2019, file photo packets of Simply Heinz ketchup fill a cafeteria condiment box in New York. The Kraft Heinz Company reports financial results Thursday, Oct. 31. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) (Richard Drew, Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Restaurants have been busy packing up to-go orders for customers in the last year due to coronavirus dining restrictions. Now, the companies which produce those conveniently packed condiments found in your bag are feeling the crunch.

Heinz Ketchup is trying to keep up with the demand as restaurants across the country report a shortage in ketchup packets, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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The company has opened new manufacturing lines that will begin to increase production by another 25% this month. This would bring the number of ketchup packets produced per year to 12 billion.

Ketchup is just one of the items on a long list of food products that have faced supply issues. Among the shortages: aluminum cans, flour and pepperoni.


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Veronica Crespo writes for Local10.com and also oversees the Español section of the website. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism and Spanish.

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