Crumpets have become the latest casualties of the carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage which is hitting production throughout the UK’s food and drink industry.
CO2 shortages are understood to have been caused by a longer than usual break in production of ammonia, one of the key sources of food grade CO2 in Europe – which is used to carbonate drinks and preserve some packed fresh foods.
Warbutons said it is working ‘really hard’ to keep products on shelves, but admitted it is making about 50 percent fewer that the 1.5 million packs of crumpets it usually makes per week.
Just one of Warburton’s plants – at Eastwood in Nottinghamshire – has been operating normally, while two others in Enfield, north London, and Burnley, Lancashire are not producing any goods.
Meanwhile cider manufacturer, Thatchers announced that it has slashed production of the fruity tipple yesterday and will continue to curtail production until its next delivery of CO2 next week.
Warburtons is to slash its 1.5m weekly crumpet production due to the shortage in CO2
Tearmh Taylor, corporate and consumer affairs manager at Warburtons, said: ‘We have had quite big shortfalls. We’re probably running at about 50% of what we can normally make.
‘This will remain the case until the CO2 supply returns to normal, but rest assured we are working really hard to keep our products on Britain’s shelves.’
CO2 is used to put the bubbles into ciders made at Thatchers Myrtle Farm, Banwell plant.
Martin Thatcher, managing director of Thatchers Cider, said: “Up until today we’ve been able to keep production of our ciders going on a limited basis to ensure customers receive most of their orders.
“Deliveries will continue wherever possible over the coming days, however, like many other drinks producers, we are now unlikely to receive any deliveries of CO2 until next week, and that means we will regrettably need to curtail production.
Trade journal Gas World said the shortage had been described as the ‘worst supply situation to hit the European carbon dioxide (CO2) business in decades’.
A spokeswoman for the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said CO2 supply issues remained and it was likely the ‘mix of products available may be affected’.
Pub chains have also been hit by the CO2 crisis with some reporting they had temporarily run out or were short of John Smith’s, Strongbow, Amstel and Birra Moretti as disruption to supplies of CO2 began to take effect at the bar.
The British Beer and Pub Association said ‘Although stocks of bulk CO2 remain low, brewers across the country are working their socks off around the clock to ensure there is still plenty of beer to go around.
Warburton’s said it was working really hard to keep its crumpet products on the shelves
But Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said ‘We can assure our customers
that all of our pubs will have a great choice of drink available.
‘Although a few drinks are likely to be unavailable due to the C02 issue, our pubs will still offer up to 17 draft lagers, ciders and real ale as well as all other drinks, including wine, spirits and soft drinks.’
Wetherspoon said yesterday that some pubs were temporarily without draught John Smith’s and Strongbow cider, while Punch Taverns, which has around 1,300 pubs, said it had shortfalls of John Smith’s, Amstel and Birra Moretti.
Fizzy drinks and poultry manufacturers have also been hit by the CO2 crisis.