Craft & Barrel says they’ve been struggling to find certain food and beer for months.
Couture Cakes won’t even be open on V-Day, but cake decorator Harry Calcot is working to keep up with the demand.
“We are expected to have a very consistent and clean product,” Calcot said, “And we’ve been struggling to be able to do that, but we’ve been managing.”
Calcot and the rest of the team are decorating in overdrive—baking with little supplies to work with.
“We’re seeing basic ingredients going missing—So, cream cheese, powdered sugar, even the boxes and dowels that we use for the cakes to support them,” Calcot said.
Craft & Barrel owner Ritch Matthews says he never knows what’s going to be available, so he takes it day-by-day.
“It’s frustrating, because we want to please the customers, but we’re stuck with what we get,” said Matthews.
For example, there is a hops shortage. Matthews says it is now affecting their ability to get certain beer.
“It affects the beer distributors, which trickles down and affects us,” said Matthews, “And we’re seeing that. So, there are certain beers. We order, we wait three months, and they’re not in. And we just substitute it with another beer.”
Calcot says they have to go the extra mile to bring in what they need.
“We do the best we can. We have been even driving as far as like two hours away just to make sure that we have the products,” Calcot said.
And Matthews says some of his customer’s favorites just may not be on tap. He hopes everyone understands.
“Be patient with the staff. Be patient with us,” said Matthews, “There’s not much we can do. We’re doing the best we can for you.”
Craft & Barrel has live music every Friday and Saturday, including this weekend.
