Pumpkin pie is a holiday tradition -- but not this year. Credit: pbody, Flickr
Rainy conditions in the midwest this fall have washed out the pumpkin crop, leaving retailers at a loss for canned pie filling. This week, the LA Times reported that Nestlé, which controls 85% of the pumpkin crop for canning, was all out of pumpkins. The company issued a surprise apology, saying that the rain had destroyed the remains of an already-small crop. Nestlé plans to stop shipping canned pumpkin after Thanksgiving, and the company says that once this season's supply is gone, there won't be any more pumpkins available for canning until August 2010.
That's a long time to wait for a slice of pumpkin pie.
If you're quick, you can find pumpkins for next week's dinner. Some stores still have canned pumpkin on the shelf, and are anticipating being able to meet consumer demand through Thanksgiving. Albertson's stores in the LA area, for example, have enough canned pumpkin to get them through next week, at $2.99 for a 29-ounce can. The chain also says they will not be raising prices to reflect the shortage.
Once Thanksgiving is over, though, there are no guarantees. Daymond Rice, a spokesman for Safeway Inc.'s Vons markets, said the chain is "concerned that we may not have enough -- or will not be able to acquire enough -- product to get through the full holiday season. It remains yet to be seen." Again, may we suggest a nice pecan pie?
The pumpkin shortage isn't new news -- Holidash covered it back in October, when it was affecting Halloween Jack O'Lantern planning -- but things have gotten more dire since then. And really, who doesn't look forward to a big slice of pumpkin pie after a delicious turkey dinner?
Then again, this could be the year that mincemeat makes a comeback.
NN,11-21-2009, 10:34AM
There is quite a bit of truth to this story. Pumpkins used for canning are very different from Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. Approximately 95 percent of the pumpkins processed in the United States are grown in Illinois, particularly near Central Illinois. This year there was a substantial amount of rain both during the growing season and now in the harvest season. The rain earlier in the year resulted in smaller pumpkins. Now, despite the fact that there are pumpkins in the field the excess amount of rain in the harvest season has resulted in muddy fields that do not allow for the harvest machinery and hauling trucks to operate. As a result there is a shortage. Depending on where you live in the US and where you shop your availability of canned pumpkin may be affected.
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Chuck,11-19-2009, 2:00PM
A produce farmer posted that pumpkin pie can be made from jack o lantern pumpkin if hard pressed. That removes the type of pumpkin issue and the panic of any alleged shortage. I trust the farmer.
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okidoke,11-19-2009, 2:38PM
What hogwash. There is no shortage.
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Maggie,11-19-2009, 2:51PM
No no no.....you corporate people have got it all wrong. You're only suppose to do this with the ONE most popular Christmas toy every child wants and then create a demand for it at Walmart......not with a crop you had an over abundance of a few weeks ago the stores couldn't give away after Halloween. Silly corporate people.
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david,11-19-2009, 3:14PM
On the Science Channel 111, they keep showing a commercial for the world event of "punkin chunkin" For those who don't know, there are a bunch of folks who hold this event and basically they build contraptions that shoot pumpkins far into the field and the person that throws the farthest will win. I see this as a waste of pumpkins and if there is a shortage, this event should not be held. Also, these folks need a spelling lesson on pumpkin chucking since obviously they cannot spell it correctly.
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Frank,11-19-2009, 3:19PM
What is it with these typed ads from morons talking about a website or the 22 year old femal who met an older man of 36 on a certian website?
Why does this crap keep showing up in these boards? I'm fed up with this s*it! Or the do you wanna' see Birtney Spears naked B.S.?
Go back to the whole where you came from!!
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Peggy,11-19-2009, 3:26PM
There better be enough canned pumpkin for Thanksgiving. I make loads of pumpkin bread with walnuts and raisins and the 40 people we're expecting will have a fit if there is no pumpkin bread!
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Shannon,11-20-2009, 6:08PM
I'm in Maine, and there's 5 huge farms around here that have thousands of pumpkins still in the fields. They've all said if the pumpkins don't sell by Thanksgiving, the ields will be plowed them under.
Sounds to me like Nestle is fibbing juuuust a bit here for one thing and one thing only: pushing sales to get old product out of the warehouses. Maybe it's time we all learned how to make pumpkin pie from scratch and stopped buying commerical. Just a thought...
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Sheila,11-19-2009, 3:53PM
They just say that. To make sure you run out and buy a ton of it. They want to make sure they sell it all thats why they say that . Ill make sweet potaot pie, just as good as pumpkin pie. Every one enjoy your Thanksgiving. Have a Great Day
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duped,11-19-2009, 4:05PM
OH No Mr. Bill No pumpkin Pie what will we do eat minced meat pie Oh No Mr. Bill!
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Quack!,11-22-2009, 2:24PM
Come on! Pa. Has pumpkin's out the yuyu! So many carved and left on the door stoops to rot......What will the shortage be for next year? Plumb pudding?
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