Call it schmear madness: New York’s bagel shops might soon be out of cream cheese. The latest casualty in a months’ long cascade of supply chain issues has sent purveyors scrambling—in some cases, all the way to North New Jersey. “I’ve never been out of cream cheese for 30 years,” said Brooklyn-based F&H Dairies owner Joseph Yemma, one of 20 sources who spoke with The New York Times. “There’s no end in sight.”
The shortage began about three weeks ago, the Times reports, and New York’s bagel shops go through thousands of pounds of cream cheese every few weeks. “This is bad,” added Pick-a-Bagel manager Pedro Aguilar. “This is very bad.” As amusing as the shortage might appear on the surface, it represents a major threat to these shops, whose owners worry people will stop ordering in the absence of their favorite spread. As one customer put it, “That’s an essential part of the bagel.”
