Wine shortage could result from supply chain issue, winery exec says

Wine

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing dozens of supply chain issues, affecting products from cars to health supplies.

And now, it is also affecting some people’s favorite drinks like wines. This shortage may last longer and you may want to think about conserving.

The Supply chain issues that resulted in a huge shortage of glass bottles and have led to a shortage of wine, according to some experts.

The impact can be felt across the U.S. and in Tennessee, where some wineries said their sales have dropped drastically.

Yardly Sawyer, the general manager for Cades Cove Cellars in Townsend said, “Normally, we go through about four truckloads of glass per year, but we’ve only been able to obtain a truck and a half of glass this year.”

Also, the Vice president of supply chain management for Jackson Family Winery, Mike Eaton said that it’s mostly a labor issue. Big wineries like his are able to make the wine, but suppliers aren’t able to move it.

Here’s what Eaton said on NewsNation’s “On Balance With Leland Vittert” Monday:

“It’s starting to catch up to, I think, everybody. We have plenty of wine in our cellar. And it’s just a matter of increasing the rigor in our planning process to make sure that nobody’s out of stock.”

If you’re thinking to yourself the answer could lead to a boom in box wine, he said the opposite is true.

“When we’re in a surplus, you get a lot of good juice and box wine,” Eaton said. “When we’re in a supply shortage, then then the box line has to scrape the bottom of the barrel, literally.”

Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates also caused fear to some workers. Some jobs that disappeared during lockdown have themselves now vanished when employers have asked them to return.

Many industries are heavily affected by Supply chain breakdowns, though particularly electronics. Compounding supply and demand irregularities during the pandemic are labor issues as the world comes out of it.

Some workers who had jobs that disappeared during lockdown have themselves now vanished when employers have asked them to return. Others are balking at workplace vaccine mandates.

Trucking jobs face the added burden of regulation. Drivers can only work so many hours before they’re required to rest, which limits how fast they can cut through a backlog.

“I’ve heard six months, I’ve heard 18 months, I’ve heard a year, I’ve heard 2023. Nobody can really pinpoint exactly when the backup is going to stop,” Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association, said.

For now, Eaton says they’re managing. But 2021 has left everyone wondering what could happen next in every industry, including his.

“It’s a problem,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s crisis mode.”

 


 

Sources: 22NewsWWLP, NewsNationNow

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