At Daisy Café and Cupcakery on Madison’s East Side, flocking to grocery stores for cream cheese over normal distributors has become a common practice, said general manager Kelly Knocke.
The grocery store runs have become more frequent in recent weeks, she said, as delivery trucks continue to come up short. Trips take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour, Knocke said, which is time that would normally be spent prepping for a day of hungry customers.
The café uses cream cheese for not only its cupcakes and other desserts, but also for its egg sandwich. And like Gotham Bagels, Knocke said ordering in bulk has also become a solution.
But large-scale Schreiber Foods also has faced its share of cream cheese supply issues.
“For the past year or so, overall cream cheese consumption seems to be up,” said Andrew Tobisch, Schreiber Foods director of communications. “Every single cream cheese producer is working to keep up with that demand. But I would say that we are doing better than many in working through those challenges.”
The manufacturer additionally shut down for a few days in October after a cybersecurity attack compromised the company’s distribution centers and plants, but Tobisch said that hasn’t had a major impact on shortages.
