Pepperidge Farm Warns of a Cookie Shortage Through the Holidays

People are leaning on cookies extra hard this year.

It turns out we've all been leaning on cookies a little extra this year, because Campbell Soup Co., Pepperidge Farm's parent company, revealed that its cookie supply is looking a little low right now after a recent spike in demand.

"We are still working through some supply constraints, including a challenge in cookies where the combination of demand and labor impacted by COVID-19 has had some negative impact on supply," said Mark Clouse, CEO and president of Campbell, during a recent investor meeting. "Despite these isolated challenges, we feel very confident in our ability to meet the long-term demand driven by the expected sustained growth of consumer snacking behavior."

As it turns out, there's a very good reason that the cookie supply was hit especially hard: Campbell doesn't rely on third-party manufacturers to make its distinctive Pepperidge Farm cookies.

"This portfolio is unique with proprietary recipes, and therefore we do not outsource production," Campbell explained to Bloomberg News in a statement. "We’ve prioritized increasing supply and are already leveraging capacity opportunities across the network to meet increases in demand and maximize availability."

Campbell's hustle to boost its cookie supply comes when its customers need sweets the most. A report from analytics agency Top Data reveals that America's cookie demand has risen 25% since the start of COVID, with 20% of Americans claiming to eat three or more cookies per day on average.

The new data is great for business in the long run, but helps explain the burden that cookie manufacturers are under right now as they work to ramp up production.

Pepperidge Farm is perhaps best known for its Milano, Chessmen, and Farmhouse cookies, but the company's full portfolio expands much wider.

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Kyler Alvord is a news writer at Thrillist. Find him on Twitter and Instagram. Or don't. It's really up to you.