Coffee-Mate Creamer Shortage? (The Truth Revealed)
Last updated on October 26th, 2022 at 05:19 pm
It isn’t very pleasant going to a store and not finding coffee-mate creamers.
The global pandemic disrupted organizations’ production activities and led to many food shortages.
Nestle Coffee-mate also suffered this disruption, and people experienced scarcity. This article will explain why there’s been a shortage of Coffee-mate creamers.
There’s a shortage of Coffee-mate creamers because the global pandemic caused an increase in supply chain issues. Also, climate change has unfavorably affected locations where coffee is grown. Inflation too is responsible for the shortage as there’s a record of high prices of food items. This record percentage is the highest since 2008.
Is There a Coffee-Mate Creamer Shortage In 2022?
There is indeed a Coffee-mate creamer shortage in the year 2022.
The causes are the disruption of supply chains during the pandemic, which caused labor shortages, and climate change.
Below is a summary of why there is a coffee-mate creamer shortage.
| Reasons | Effects |
|---|---|
| Covid-19 | Loss of lives and interruption of the supply chain. |
| Unfavorable Weather | It reduces coffee production, leading to decreased supply. |
#1. Labor Shortages
The pandemic upset supply chains around the world. Companies are finding it difficult to staff their organizations fully.
Coffee-mate isn’t left out as the pandemic has affected them just as it’s affected other organizations. The reasons that cause this inadequate labor supply include;
#2. Different Priorities
The effect of coronavirus made American workers adjust their priorities.
Parents who did on-site jobs desired the flexibility of remaining home to oversee their children.
Since daycare and schools were not running, these parents wanted to better involve themselves in their children’s lives.
These concerns caused a change in priorities and made people leave their jobs for remote jobs.
#3. Coronavirus Deaths
The Covid-19 pandemic caused almost 1 million deaths in the United States. This loss had significant implications across the country’s labor force.
Coffee trading suffered during the Coronavirus pandemic as the government restricted movement.
#4. Industrial Competition
The United States Chamber of Commerce stated that job openings for over 10.9 million workers were available. The workers, however, were only 6.9 million in number.
Therefore, transportation and logistics subdivisions go up against numerous industries to gain workers.
Hospitals, construction, and retail are among the industries in competition.
The above reasons reduced the production output of Nestle Coffee-mate, resulting in scarcity.
#5. Coffee-Mate Ingredient Ban
Countries like Austria, Scandinavia, Norway, Hungary, Iceland, and Denmark banned hydrogenated oil. Mayo Clinic has found out that trans-fat is dangerous for the body.
Trans-fat raises harmful cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol. This reaction raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, heart attack, and diabetes in the body.
Trans-fat is a component in hydrogenated oils and coffee creamers that are non-dairy.
The European Commission passed a law reducing the amount of trans-fat used in food.
For every 100 grams of fat, the amount of trans fat should not be higher than 2 grams.
Looking at Coffee-mate’s creamer bottles, trans-fat has 0 grams indicated on the bottles. However, this isn’t an honest representation of facts.
United States manufacturers can lawfully claim a product doesn’t have trans-fat on one condition.
They can claim so if the portion of the product has trans-fat of 0.5 grams or lower.
This ban has reduced the availability of a key ingredient in Coffee-mate’s creamer. With this ban on hydrogenated oils, coffee creamers will be scarce in Europe.
So if you’re in Europe and can’t find coffee-mate creamers, the ban is a possible reason.
Who Makes Coffee-Mate Creamer?
Coffee-mate creamer is a product of the Coffee-Mate brand, Nestle, introduced on the 2nd of February, 1961.
Nestle offers this coffee whitener in liquid, powder, and liquid concentrate forms.
After the first product came out in 1961, Coffee-mate Lite and Coffee-mate Liquid came in 1989.
Nestle produces these creamers in the city of Glendale, California, United States.
In America, there are over twenty-five flavors of Coffee-mate, including peppermint mocha and gingerbread.
The ingredients in the creamers include sodium caseinate, hydrogenated vegetable fats, and solids of corn syrup.
Sodium caseinate is milk-derived casein needed in creamers lacking dairy. It is non-dairy because it is lactose-free.
Coffee-mate also has trace amounts of mono-ad diglycerides, which work as emulsifiers.
Another compound is dipotassium phosphate; it helps averts coagulation.
Furthermore, sodium aluminosilicate is present in Coffee-mate as an anticaking agent.
Other substances in Coffee-mate include annatto color and synthetic flavor.
For Europe, there are two kinds of powder form creamer, varying from one country to the other, with no extra flavors.
Coffee-mate doesn’t include hydrogenated fat as an ingredient when produced for Europe. Hydrogenated fat can cause some heart diseases.
Why Are Stores Out of Coffee-mate Creamer?
Stores are out of Coffee-mate creamers because of labor scarcity affecting the supply chain.
There is also the matter of coffee bean scarcity around the world. Below, you’ll see a detailed insight into these reasons.
How does Logistics Labor Scarcity Affect Supply Chain?
Labor scarcity across industries can openly affect global, regional, and local supply chains.
If factories are understaffed, production will be low, resulting in inventory running out for retailers and distributors. In logistics, labor scarcity affects the movement of goods.
The following are some effects of labor scarcity on the supply chain.
- Drayage drivers’ exit from the trucking business caused shipping containers to remain in ports longer than usual.
- The lack of long-distance truck drivers resulted in capacity scarcity in trucking carriers.
- This unfavorable development reduced inventory movement from production zones to distribution hubs.
- Short-staffed distribution centers and warehouses can’t function at full capability. Delays occur, which lead to inventory scarcity for retailers and producers.
- An abrupt increase in e-commerce trade created a lot of orders. These numerous orders caused difficulty for short-staffed fulfillment houses.
There is extra pressure to maintain the pace of orders across the country.
All these combined reasons have vastly affected Coffee-mate’s production capacity leading to shortage experiences.
Coffee Bean Shortage
Stores are out of Coffee-mate creamer because of coffee bean scarcity worldwide.
This scarcity is mostly due to the abrupt decrease in farming Arabica coffee in South America. Brazil alone produces 60% of the planet’s coffee beans.
However, unfavorable weather conditions significantly reduced production. Brazil suffered ice burns on their coffee farms.
Temperatures between 26.6°F to 24.8°F are particularly dangerous since ice crystals can develop in the crop’s cells.
This formation of ice crystals is fatal and can damage flowers and fruits.
The ice crystals rupture the cells inside the plant’s affected areas. The parts darken, die, and subsequently, the entire plant follows.
This damage causes leaves to develop ice burn, which leads to total coffee tree defoliation. Dead coffee trees only mean there’s a need for replacement by seedlings.
Coronavirus has also disrupted labor output on farms. Some people who might have caught the virus will, of course, not go to the farm.
Quarantines, travel bans, and social distance regulations on farmers also caused a fall in production.
Since the supply of coffee beans to retailers continues to be difficult, consumers suffer higher prices—the cost of shipping coffee beans increases for all these reasons.
Consumers will also bear unreliable bean quality and, eventually, the lack of coffee drinks.
With fewer coffee drinks available, the demand for coffee creamers will drop.
This development will cause a shortage in Coffee-mate creamers since there is less coffee to consume.
Is Coffee-mate Creamer Discontinued?
There are numerous coffee-mate creamers available and more in production. With new creamers coming out frequently, Nestle discontinued the following creamers.
- Original flavor powdered creamer.
- French Vanilla flavor powdered creamer.
- Hazelnut powder creamer.
- Partisan Almond Crème liquid creamer.
- Belgian Chocolate Almond creamer.
- Extra sweet and creamy liquid creamer.
- Peppermint Mocha liquid creamer.
- Toll House Chocolate Chip liquid coffee creamer.
- Regular flavor liquid coffee creamer.
- Pumpkin Spice liquid coffee creamer.
- Natural Bliss Vanilla flavor liquid creamer.
Conclusion
There is a shortage of Coffee-mate creamers because of the global pandemic.
There is lesser staff in Coffee-mate industries, which caused an interruption in the supply chain.
Harsh weather conditions affected coffee produce leading to less demand for coffee and, consequently, creamers.
Coffee-mate discontinues some of their old creamers as they produce fresh ones.
