RISMEDIA, November 30, 2009—(MCT)—North Vermilion Street County Market sales associate Lisa Juvinall doesn’t mind if someone doesn’t “Leggo her Eggo.”
They aren’t part of her morning breakfast routine. “I don’t miss them,” she said.
But other waffle aficionados do and are stocking up as Kellogg Co. recently announced there will be a nationwide shortage of its Eggo frozen waffles. The shortage is expected to last until next summer because of interruptions in production at two of the four plants that make the Eggo waffles.
The company’s Atlanta plant was shut down for an undisclosed period by a September storm that dumped historic amounts of rain in the area. Meanwhile, several production lines at its largest bakery in Rossville, Tenn., are closed indefinitely for repairs, company spokeswoman Kris Charles said.
It will take until the middle of 2010 before shelves around the country are stocked at pre-shutdown levels, Charles said. The Vermilion Street store has a sign posted on its freezers telling customers about the shortage. Juvinall said as more people learn about the shortage, she’s sure the waffles will be bought up even faster.
Towne Centre County Market store manager Scott Stanton said “we just don’t have them.” He said the store is ordering them from supplier Supervalu and not getting them. Customers nationwide already are noticing near-empty Eggo shelves on the freezer aisle at many grocery stores, and boxes are being sold on eBay. The existing stock of Eggos will be distributed nationally based on stores’ sales histories of the waffles, Charles said.
“We are working around the clock to restore Eggo store inventories to normal levels as quickly as possible,” she said.
Eggo waffles are also made at plants in San Jose, Calif., and Blue Anchor, N.J.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Copyright (c) 2009, Commercial-News, Danville, Ill.
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