Cream Cheese The Latest Victim Of Supply Chain Crisis

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Seemingly no product has been immune to the supply chain crisis, and cream cheese is no exception.

Restaurants in Maryland say the spreadable staple has become increasingly difficult to find, which has put some businesses in a bind.

"You cannot have bagels without cream cheese," Tony Scott, chief executive officer of THB Bagelry, said. "They go so well together."

Scotto isn't wrong. Bagels and cream cheese are an iconic pairing, but the couple is now in jeopardy of being split up.

Stores and restaurants have been struggling to keep cream cheese in stock recently.

"When I went into Wegman's a couple weeks ago, I couldn't find the cream cheese I wanted and they said they were having problems," Deborah Strong of Reisterstown said. "And I thought, if Wegman's is having problems, I assume everybody is."

Not quite everyone—THB Bagelry and Deli has avoided the supply chain problem for now.

"We, however, have been able to work with our food providers for the last three weeks in getting all the cream cheeses that we needed," Scotto said.

Scotto said the chain has enough cream cheese to last through the rest of the year. But because it has an expiration date, there's only so much that can be bought at a time.

THB uses more than 2,000 pounds of cream cheese a week across its six locations. They buy in bulk in large quantities.

Scotto said things have been going well for the chain, which opened two new locations during the pandemic.

He is staying optimistic about this shortage.

"As a business owner, I'm worried about it," Scotto said. "As the leader of the company, I try to stay positive."

While TBH isn't worried about supplies for the rest of the year, Scotto hopes the supply chain issues clear up soon, so they're not a source of concern in 2022.