{"id":230731,"date":"2021-04-19T21:44:11","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T18:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bubble-tea-shortage-hits-us-could-last-for-several-months\/"},"modified":"2021-04-19T21:44:11","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T18:44:11","slug":"bubble-tea-shortage-hits-us-could-last-for-several-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bubble-tea-shortage-hits-us-could-last-for-several-months\/","title":{"rendered":"#Bubble tea shortage hits US, could last for several months"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Bubble tea shortage hits US, could last for several months<\/strong>”
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Bubble tea\u00a0is following in the footsteps of\u00a0garden gnomes,\u00a0ketchup\u00a0and\u00a0toilet paper. That\u2019s right, there\u2019s another shortage in the US.<\/p>\n

Bubble tea, a drink that includes a layer of\u00a0tapioca balls, or boba, at the bottom, originated in Taiwan but has become a popular\u00a0drink\u00a0around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, companies are seeing delayed shipments of boba, as well as the key ingredient used to make it, tapioca starch, according to recent reports. Those delays are causing a shortage and even US-based boba producers will be hit, the\u00a0San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>\u00a0first reported.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest boba suppliers in Northern California, Hayward\u2019s Leadway International Inc., told the news<\/a>paper that people could start noticing the shortage as early as next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next week or so, tapioca will be a luxury because no one is going to have it,\u201d Tommy Huang, the senior sales manager at Leadway International told the Chronicle.<\/p>\n

He said\u00a0it could take as little as two months for the boba supply to catch up to demand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a long time to be able to say we will not have a shortage of tapioca,\u201d Huang told the paper.<\/p>\n

Last week, the founders of the popular chain Boba Guys \u2014 which makes its own boba \u2014 also explained the impending \u201cindustry-wide\u201d shortage in an\u00a0Instagram video<\/a>\u00a0with David Fan, of supplier Fanale Drinks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a big update on the shipping issues including an impending nationwide shortage on boba,\u201d Boba Guys captioned the video. \u201cEven though we operate our own factory in the United States, we are reliant on the shipping network to procure the raw tapioca starch that we make our boba with.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chain \u2014 which has locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City \u2014\u00a0posted another update<\/a>\u00a0on Instagram Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shortage isn\u2019t just about boba, but the entire ecosystem that depends on overseas inventory,\u201d the post said, adding later that the situation \u201cis going to be very messy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mai Shi, the marketing and public relations lead at Kung Fu Tea \u2014 the US\u2019s largest bubble tea chain \u2014 told USA Today that the shortage will become more of a problem this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have warehouses on both East and West Coast, so our shortage compared to other boba brands is way less significant,\u201d Shi told the newspaper. \u201cHowever, we definitely see a trend that the demand for the entire bubble tea category is ever increasing as people want fresh, made-to-order drinks.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n