As supply chain issues continue to soar across the country, alcohol is not immune to the problem. The new year's toast may be harder to do with alcohol shortages hitting local stores.
“We have a shortage of pretty much everything you name it, liquor, wine, beer," said Micheal Ganduro, owner of Laurel Lane Market & Liquor in San Luis Obispo.
The backup in the port of Long Beach is making imports from other countries harder to make it to their final destination.
“Do to the fact we have such a global collection of wines, we feature roughly half of our wines from all over the world, so we are definitely impacted because all of those are sitting off the port of long beach," said Aaron Warren, owner of SLO Wine and Beer Company.
“Some of them they aren’t bringing at all some brands. Some of them we have to wait like one month sometimes, sometimes two months it depends, and some of them we haven’t seen in a year now," said Ganduro.
According to data provider, IRI Worldwide11 percent of alcoholic beverages have been sold out as of November 28th of this year.
Warren says he saw this problem coming and stocked up as much as he could for the holiday season.
“We’re able to get by with style but at the same time there are still several wines I would love to have but won’t make it in until next year," said Warren.
The problem isn’t just in receiving the product, other factors are contributing to the issue.
“There’s a shortage in glass, there’s a shortage in cork, there’s a shortage in all materials necessary for bottling," said Warren.
Demand for alcohol continues to stay the same, it’s costing business owners much more money to keep up.
“I want to say like at least one dollar across the board, two dollars for each bottle," said Ganduro.
Business owners aren’t giving up and say this is an opportunity to try new things if you can’t find what you’re looking for.
“This is a chance to drink outside the box, think outside the box, try something different," said Warren.
Experts predict the supply chain may start to have a normal flow by the end of 2022.
