What’s the latest coronavirus shortage? Canning supplies, gardeners and retailers say
From coins to cans and flour to Dr Pepper, the coronavirus pandemic has set off a chains of events resulting in multiple product shortages across the country.
The latest materials in short supply? Canning supplies, gardeners say.
Vanessa Ware of West Virginia had to visit six stores to find the supplies to can her vegetables, The Associated Press reported. She had plenty of jars and lids, but what she really needed were the bands — or gaskets — that fasten lids to jars.
When she took her search online, she discovered higher prices “due to price gouging,” according to the outlet.
Gardener Carrie Storley of Wisconsin also turned to online options when she couldn’t find pickling salt or citric acid — both essential for canning — but found “it was obscenely overpriced” if online retailers had the products, at all, she told Wisconsin State Farmer.
Joseph Nowosielski, co-owner of Krause Department Store in Pennsylvania, ordered twice his usual order of canning jars and lids only to receive half the order, WJET reported. The store has been sold out of canning supplies for three weeks.
Deb Hacker has been canning for more than 40 years and said she’s never seen a shortage like this year’s, the State Farmer reported. She told the newspaper she’s resorted to purchasing lids at hardware stores because they’re impossible to find at grocery and outdoor outfits.
“Any time I’m out and about, I go to grocery stores, hardware stores, wherever I am. I have other people looking for me,” Hacker told the State Farmer. “One day I got a little greedy – I found them at Pick ‘n Save and I got six (packages) of them and left one on the shelf.”
Lids — also known as flats — are highly sought-after because food safety practices dictate that they shouldn’t be reused, according to the newspaper. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said canners shouldn’t use lids that are damaged or more than a year old as it can affect the seal, which guards against bacteria and mold.
Nowosielski attributes the supply shortages to increased interest in gardening during the pandemic.
“Everyone sitting at home decided to start gardening,” Nowosielski told WJET. “So it has become an issue getting product.”
The canning industry also saw demand for supplies skyrocket as Americans started making more meals at home during the pandemic, a spokesperson for Newell Brands, owner of Ball, which makes jars and other canning supplies, told The AP.
“The demand has resulted in supply constraints, extended lead times and recently limited product availability at stores and online,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company has ramped up glass production and found additional lid manufacturers.
