There's A Boba Shortage In The United States

First there was a toilet paper shortage, a cleaning supply shortage, a grape nuts shortage, and ketchup shortage. Now, your favorite bubble tea shop is running out of boba.

There's currently a shortage of the chewy tapioca pearls in the United States because of shipping delays.

Bubble tea and boba originated in Taiwan in the 1980s. The drink is now popular around the world, but boba is still largely produced and imported from Taiwan. Boba manufacturers in the U.S. have also been unable to import the tapioca starch needed to make the pearls.

Boba and the ingredients to make it are floating in container ships off of the West Coast right now. Shipping ports in California are packed with huge cargo ships because of a labor shortage and other logistics issued caused by COVID-19, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Bubble tea shops and Asian grocery stores are now simply running out of boba with no way to restock.

“With everything that has been going on the past year or so, the boba shortage is just another bump in the road. But it’s not something that we can’t get over. We will keep our heads up and work through it, making sure our customers are happy," Kevin Nguyen, manager of the restaurant Pho B.A.E. in Southlake, Texas, told the Dallas Morning News.

It may take up to two months before the U.S. boba/tapioca supply is back to normal.

The owners of U.S. Boba Company in California asked boba lovers on Instagram to not get mad at their local restaurants if they're out. Andrew Chau suggested that people try aloe jelly or grass jelly if they can't find boba.

Photo: Getty Images