Eating Up Cookies

A cookie shortage is leaving cookie jars empty and taking a bite out of food supply chains. Campbell Soup, maker of Pepperidge Farm cookies, faces supply constraints in its cookie division due to labor shortages and elevated demand as consumers stay home during the pandemic, according to the company’s earnings call.

While Campbell ramped up its soup and Goldfish crackers production to meet consumer demand, it’s harder to increase cookie production because they’re made with proprietary recipes, Campbell says, and so it does not use third-party manufacturers to make them.

These constraints coincide with surges in demand, with Pepperidge Farm’s cookie demand up 8.7% in the 13-week period ending on Nov. 1, 2020, Campbell said. Cookie demand in the United States has surged by 25% during the pandemic, with about one-third of Americans eating 24 to 48 cookies a month, according to Top Data’s research (see chart).