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Juice boxes are the latest victim of the supply-chain issues causing shortages of various products across the country.
Supermarkets are running low on the children’s favorite thanks to a smaller-than-expected apple crop this year and shortages of bottles and juice box containers.
“Like many retailers, we are seeing some shortages on juice boxes and bottles of juice as suppliers are experiencing labor, logistics and packaging challenges due to COVID-19,” said Maura O’Brien, a spokeswoman for Stop & Shop, the largest grocery chain on Long Island.
“Additionally, juice suppliers have noted that volatile crops this past season have in part created a shortage on apple concentrate,” she added.
Some juice box manufacturers are now scaling back production efforts on some flavors to focus on ones that can be produced more easily, O’Brien said, adding that “cranberry-based juices and cocktails are not reporting any crop or product supply issues” — though they might be less popular with kids.
Capri-Sun and Kool-Aid are expected to resume production on some products shortly, she said, “which should help with assortment and availability.”
Hauppauge, New York-based grocery chain King Kullen is also seeing “sporadic shortages” of juice boxes and pouches, a spokesman told Newsday, citing shortages of labor for production, warehousing, and transportation.
Other items — ranging from pet foods and sports drinks to other household items — are also in short supply, the spokesman, Lloyd Singer, said.
The shortage is putting the squeeze on parents.
“We actually went to BJs the other day and we couldn’t find any Capri sun,” Valerie Jacques, 41, a mother of 3 from Brentwood, NY told The Post.
“We usually buy them for school. I went through Instacart and just bought 2 boxes. I wasn’t aware that there was a juice box shortage honestly. I just thought they were out. We went in the evening,” the Long Island mom said.
Lauren Patruno, 39, a mother from Amityville said she has looked near and far for her children’s favorite Capri Sun squeeze boxes.
“My husband and I noticed the start of the shortage about a month ago, Target, Stop& Shop and ShopRite have very little to no stock,” Patruno said.
I assume there is a shortage because of people being out of work, no one to process the product means there is no supply. Companies across the board are suffering.”
Kraft Heinz, the distributor of the Capri-Sun juice brand, told Newsday that a shortage of apple and pear juice concentrate, as well as of raw materials like straws have hampered production.
At the same time, Kraft Heinz spokeswoman Stephanie Peterson said, demand has surged and the company is now investing $25 million to increase production, “making us optimistic about being able to close the gap on the heightened demand,” according to Newsday.
Representatives for the makers of popular juice brands Mott’s and Honest Tea did not return The Post’s request for comment.