Yahoo Finance Cream Cheese Shortage Threatens N.Y.C. Delis: 'Sunday Bagels Are Sacred'
Getty
The latest supply chain problem is hitting New Yorkers hard.
New York City is experiencing a shortage of cream cheese, impacting the area's beloved bagel shops, according to The New York Times. Dairy manufacturers are reportedly having difficulty filling orders of unprocessed and unwhipped cream cheese, which N.Y.C. bagel shops typically use as a foundation for creating their own cream cheese flavors.
"I've never been out of cream cheese for 30 years," said Joseph Yemma, owner of Brooklyn's F&H Dairies, which serves as a distributor for many of the city's bagel shops, per the Times. "There's no end in sight."
The country has seen a number of supply chain issues throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, causing shortages of many items from food and lumber, to clothes and appliances.
Getty
Jenna Thornton, spokeswoman for Kraft Heinz — the parent company of Philadelphia Cream Cream — told the Times that the company is experiencing a shortage for several of its products and will accommodate the cream cheese shortage by shipping 35% more products than last year.
"We continue to see elevated and sustained demand across a number of categories where we compete," Thornton said in a statement. "As more people continue to eat breakfast at home and use cream cheese as an ingredient in easy desserts, we expect to see this trend continue."
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Meanwhile, the shortage is causing N.Y.C. bagel shop owners to eliminate their signature cream cheese flavors, use lower-quality suppliers, or increase their prices, worrying that they will soon run out entirely.
Christopher Pugliese, owner of Tompkins Square Bagels in lower Manhattan, said that business owners are "struggling to patch things together" as they're told their orders will not arrive, the Times reports.
"I was like, 'What am I going to do this weekend?'" Pugliese told the outlet. "Four people just told me they can't get me cream cheese."
"Sunday bagels are sacred," he added. "I hate feeling like I've let people down."
