First, it was the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich that was so popular that it sold out, but now the curse of popularity is coming for the most buzzworthy drink of summer, too — White Claw hard seltzer. That’s right, there’s a shortage of the wildly popular hard seltzer. This is not a drill.
According to CNN, the company behind White Claw has in fact confirmed the nationwide shortage of the successful hard seltzer with the company’s senior vice president of marketing indicating that the popularity of White Claw happened faster than they could have seen coming.
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“We are working around the clock to increase supply given the rapid growth in consumer demand,” Sanjiv Gajiwala said. “White Claw has accelerated faster than anyone could have predicted.”
While White Claw was initially introduced by Mike’s Hard Lemonade maker Mark Anthony Brands in 2016, the hard seltzer surged in popularity this summer and while all hard seltzers have been a popular choice, White Claw specifically is the choice with Americans consuming more of the beverage in the past six months than the entirety of 2018 according to beer writer Bryan Roth (via Bustle).
At this point, it’s unclear when stock of White Claw will return to normal levels, though Gajiwala did indicate that the company is working on “allocating product to our distributor partners to keep all markets in stock the best we can and will continue to do so until we get back to our normal safety stock position.”
Of course, if White Claw does run out in your area and you’re willing to give other brands a try while waiting for that “safety stock position” to return, there are several options on the market hard seltzer fans can enjoy. Truly from Boston Beer, Bon & Viv from Anheuser-Bush, and even Natural Light, another Anheuser-Bush brand, has a hard seltzer offering, as does Four Loko with a hard seltzer featuring a staggering 14% ABV.
What do you think? Are you surprised by the White Claw shortage? Will you be giving another hard seltzer a try during this beverage crisis? Let us know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @lifeinpolaroid to talk about all things food, drink, comics, and more!
