Nationwide Ketchup Shortage Costs Franchisor Upwards of $500,000

Ketchup, the french fry’s best friend, is in short supply in the U.S., and it’s costing franchisors hundreds of thousands of dollars, a new report in the Wall Street Journal said. 

When the pandemic closed dining rooms, something unexpected happened to the demand for ketchup. Households started buying more bottles of ketchup while quick service and fast-casual restaurants switched to packets almost exclusively, the report said. 

A year later, packet prices are up 13%, and franchisors are struggling to keep tables stocked as dining rooms reopen, according to the Journal. 

Long John Silver’s, the seafood franchise with nearly 700 units, told the Journal it had spent an extra half-million dollars on ketchup packets during the pandemic. Now, even at inflated prices, supplies are running low. 

“Everyone out there is grabbing for ketchup,” the brand’s CMO told the Journal. 

At Texas Roadhouse, another franchised restaurant with about 630 units, owners have taken to scouring the shelves of Costco and looking for off-brand suppliers to make due. 

“I’m a Heinz person,” Travis Doster, Texas Roadhouse’s public relations lead, told the Journal. “But you can’t be loyal forever.”