SouthCoast Grips for the Great Ketchup Shortage of 2021

I saw an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this morning that talked about the fact that due to a supply chain issue, Heinz and other premium ketchups are not able to keep up with demand.

According to the article, the hiccup happened last year when thousands of restaurants suddenly turned from sit-down to 100 percent take-out, and the ketchup production has yet to recover.

Nikki Botelho is the manager of four Honey Dew locations in New Bedford. When she heard us talking about the ketchup shortage this morning, she couldn't help but call.

"Our distributor is sending us all different kinds of ketchup when normally we get Heinz," she said. "I didn't know what was going on. I was like why are we getting this generic brand, and then I was listening this morning and got the answer!"

Botelho told us that the first time they got generic they didn't even see a name, it just said "ketchup." Honey Dew now has "Crown Collection Fancy Tomato Ketchup" for the time being.

Some Fun 107 listeners chimed in. Joy Medeiros suggested that people bring their own ketchup. That's one solution. I can't imagine it would break any COVID rules as long as you didn't share it.

Brittany Remick said, "I think the ketchup packets are hilarious, definitely see how much ketchup I actually use. And if you have extra packets you can take it home or keep it in your car (for when fast food places don't give you enough)."

One Fun 107 listener admitted responsibility for the entire ketchup crisis. "My kids are too blame. I'm sure of it," they said.