Starbucks typically goes through 6 billion cups per year.
"Think about how creative you are in finding a Covid test. It’s like that," said Jennifer Schuler, Wetzel’s chief executive. Paper-goods suppliers told her they were running at half capacity because they were short-handed, she said.
That has helped, Mr. Parker said. But the cup shortage has revealed a complementary catastrophe—lid scarcity. In this case, substitute goods are spotty. Various lid brands don’t always match cups of equal capacity. One lid that seals a 24-ounce cup might fit poorly on another, risking beverage dribble and customer complaints.
Josh Sewell, owner of Cottonwood Coffee Company in southeast Alabama, said he started selling reusable cups at a loss in October, betting they would help reduce his shop’s reliance on disposable cups as the shortfall continues. Priscila Hernandez, a 23-year-old social-media coordinator from Anaheim, Calif., said her Starbucks stores routinely run out of cups, lids, coffee stoppers and cup sleeves. She feels pity for baristas—but still, she said, "It is a coffee shop. You would expect them to have cups and lids and things like that."Starbucks told investors this month it would likely face supply chain troubles further into the year.
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