A popular bakery and cafe recently joined the growing list of food brands to experience a shortage of its ingredients.
Mary Grace Cafe, a restaurant famous for its homemade ensaymada, informed its patrons that it might be difficult to get orders of their crowd-favorite pastries due to some global supply issues.
“You may be having difficulty getting your hands on a box or two of your favorite Mary Grace Ensaymadas. Unfortunately, we’re experiencing some global supply issues on a few raw materials, beyond our control,” the Mary Grace team said.
It also assured the public that it will resolve this issue soon.
“As we are committed to using only the best, high-quality ingredients, do know that we will never compromise on what goes into all our products and we’re hoping to resolve this issue soon!” Mary Grace Cafe said.
“As always, thank you for your patience and understanding,” it added.
Prior to this, a donut shop franchised from Los Angeles called Randy’s Donuts also advised its customers in the Philippines that it will be temporarily closed due to its sold-out donuts.
Its store is located in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. The store just opened last February.
“Over 70,000 donuts with more than 5,000 donuts sold daily! We are extremely grateful for the love, Manila!” Randy’s said.
“We’re hitting pause starting tomorrow, May 25, but we will be back soon with more flavors!” it added.
It explained that it ran out of flour, in a separate post.
“Don’t worry fresh batches are on their way from LA,” it said.
Early this year, several Filipinos have also reported that the popular McDonald’s fries no longer come in larger boxes.
In April, the fast food chain confirmed that its supply of the World Famous Fries is limited, citing a global freight crisis.
All of its stores will still continue to sell fries but in regular sizes.
“All stores will still continue to serve regular fries for your enjoyment! We are working hard to bring back all sizes to you very soon,” the fast food chain said.
The popular onion rings of Burger King also briefly ran out of stocks early this year due to a “supply issue.”
Moreover, News5 also reported that homegrown brands Mang Inasal and Angel’s Burger have issued similar advisories about some of their items.
Mang Inasal’s staple chicken oil is now being offered on a per-request basis. Back then, it is readily available for all its patrons.
Angel’s Burger, on the other hand, recently ran out of stocks of their cheeseburger and patties. The cost of each burger also increased by P7 per piece.
How the Russia-Ukraine war is factored in
There’s no single and specific reason for the global scarcity of ingredients and materials that have weighed in on these establishments.
Some businessmen, however, cited the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war as among the possible factors for the supply chain issues.
Eric Teng, president of the Restaurant Owners of the Philippines (RestoPH), stated that food production in general has affected supply chain disruptions both in the country and overseas.
“For example, there may be lower output in domestic rice production due to the lack of fertilizer today. The fertilizer, a lot of it also comes from Ukraine and Russia,” Teng was quoted as saying in a Business World report.
Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) President Calixto Chikiamco also stated that the prolonged conflict has aggravated the global supply chain issues.
“The war has disrupted production and distribution. It could get worse because there’s a fertilizer shortage as well. With farmers planting with less fertilizer due to high prices and lack of supply, farm production will fall by harvest season,” Chikiamco was quoted as saying in the same report.