Is It Time To Panic About The Nutella Shortage?
We've seen this before. First it was with avocados (and, subsequently, the guacamole at Chipotle). A recent scare has involved limes. Don't even get us started on the Sriracha crisis of '14. And now, our beloved Nutella might be in jeopardy.
Also see: 8 Things You Didn't Know About Nutella
Shortages of food items are nothing new. Reports are published – seemingly every week – about how [insert item here] and, by extension, [insert popular dish here] is surely down to its final days because of [insert farfetched theory here]. Most of these receive a sizeable amount of coverage before the grim prophecies eventually fail to come to fruition. So, why might the latest idea that the world's supply of everyone's favorite spread is in jeopardy actually be worth monitoring?
For starters, there are some pretty daunting numbers being thrown out there. Frost conditions have decimated about 70% of the nuts in Turkey, which is where Nutella sources the majority of its produce. Mind you, the company also buys 25% of the world's hazelnut supply to make its trademark product. Let that sink in for a minute. The fact that Columbia University undergrads were at one point supposedly pilfering thousands of dollars worth of the stuff probably doesn't help things out. While Gothamist informs us that Nutella has bought a major Turkish hazelnut supplier – thus protecting itself somewhat from price hikes – it's certainly a situation to keep an eye on.
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