Bubble tea fans declare ‘state of emergency’ over looming shortfall in United States

Don Sweeney
·2 min read

A looming bubble tea shortage in the United States has some fans of the popular drink declaring a “state of emergency.”

“OK, 2021 has achieved nightmare status for me,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

A worldwide shipping snarl has created a backlog for U.S. deliveries of tapioca, a necessary ingredient for the drinks, from Taiwan and Thailand, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“In the next week or so, tapioca will be a luxury because no one is going to have it,” Tommy Huang, senior sales manager at California-based Leadway International Inc., told the publication. He expects tapioca supplies to catch up in two months.

“”It’s a perfect storm, really,” said Oliver Yoon, the vice president of sales and global marketing for Boba Direct, a bubble tea supplier based in Chicago, Business Insider reported.

Originally from Taiwan, bubble tea is a milk tea drink with chewy pearls of tapioca that comes in various flavors. The drink has exploded in popularity in the United States.

While the backlog of cargo ships will create shortfalls of other consumer products as well, for bubble tea lovers it’s all about their favorite drink.

“Some people will not buy a drink if we’re out of boba,” Alex Ou, owner of Tea & Others in San Francisco, told The Chronicle. “They’re literally here for the boba.”

“I declare a state of emergency,” read one Twitter post on the shortage.

“I better not see mobs to the boba tea shops,” another fan warned on Twitter.

“Thought the Suez Canal chaos was history already but apparently my favourite bubble tea shop‘s now got a boba shortage because of it. It shouldn’t be funny but it is,” read another Twitter post.

“But my bubble tea!” lamented one fan on Twitter.

“Other than semiconductor supply chain, I say the U.S. should focus on ‘Bubble tea supply chain’ to ensure we have strong domestic tapioca manufacturing capacity,” suggested a Twitter post.

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