Name: Boba shortage in Dallas: Smaller tea shops feeling the sting
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Boba shortage in Dallas: Smaller tea shops feeling the sting

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7:31 AM on Apr 19, 2021 CDTThe news of an impending boba shortage first came on April 8 when the co-owners of the , posted a announcing a national shortfall. The shortage is due to pandemic-related supply chain disruptions exacerbated by congested ports on the West Coast.Instead of importing from Taiwan like most distributors, US Boba manufactures the chewy tapioca pearls used in milk teas at its Hayward, Calif., factory, but to produce them, it still needs tapioca starch, which usually comes from Thailand.All products that regularly come from Asia, like apparel and electronics, could be held up, says David Fan, founder of Fanale Drinks, a bubble-tea supplier, and Teaspoon, a bubble-tea chain, in the video.Within days after the post, San Francisco Chronicle reported on the potential depletion, saying, “.” MarketWatch’s headline was similarly alarming: “.”Now, many across the country are wondering how, or if, the impasse will affect them. For D-FW boba enthusiasts, the answer is complicated: It depends.Grace Koo, owner of in Royal Korea Town Plaza in Dallas, says she originally didn’t think shortages would affect her, but now she is out of boba and taro, and she’s running low on flavored milk teas and high-quality matcha — basically anything that comes from Taiwan. Her vendor told her it will be 6 to 8 weeks before orders can be fulfilled, but Koo has concerns it will take longer.“People are overstocking out of fear now, like the toilet paper crisis last year. Bigger companies with buying power are buying everything,” she says. “I fear — we only have one location at the moment.” Koo says suppliers would “rather sell to the big guys,” and smaller shops like hers are going to feel the worst of it.After shopping around, she bought 10 boxes from an alternate vendor, but after the first day of serving the new boba, she got a bad review complaining about the change.Now she’s facing the decision to stop selling bubble teas altogether or keep selling a subpar product until she can receive a shipment. She is also thinking about promoting natural fruit toppings or suggesting red bean or mochi substitutes.But customers are upset. According to Koo, more than once, customers have walked in and asked if boba or taro is available, and immediately walk back out when told no.On top of being short-staffed, Koo says that the sourcing problem for her is “like a kick when you’re down” after a year of terrible sales. “It’s a cluster [expletive] — a perfect storm,” she says.At in Southlake, manager Kevin Nguyen says he only has enough boba to last a few more days. His supplier was unable to provide a timeframe for when it will become available, so he’s trying to restock at local grocery stores.“With everything that has been going on the past year or so, the boba shortage is just another bump in the road,” he says. “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.”Some good news is that the CEO of , Terry Pham, says all four Dallas-area locations have enough boba to get through a couple of months. He has been buying directly from an overseas manufacturing company for the past 19 years since Fat Straws began.He explains the problem isn’t due to a shortage of product but rather logistical problems like the backup at the ports, and reopening after lockdown measures. Even local suppliers selling other food and beverage products have faced this issue, he explains. “When bars reopened, [food and beverage distributor] Ben E. Keith was like, ‘Bear with us. All the bars are open now.’”Pham isn’t planning to preserve supply by offering substitutes, he says, “but we are definitely watching waste.”For , a franchise birthed in Richardson in 2017 that now has 10 locations in Texas, Nevada and California, supply is currently stable, but there will be a problem if a confirmed shipment doesn’t come next week, says Yan Chen, general manager of supply.The Dirty Boba drink is the No. 1 or No. 2 bestseller, depending on the store, so the shortage comes at a bad time when the boba industry is booming in Texas, and especially in California, Chen says.Feng Cha has considered manufacturing its own boba, but even the boba-making machines are produced in Asia, and with transportation issues, it doesn’t seem like a good time to get them. is one global company taking production into its own hands. A bubble-tea brand from Taiwan, OneZo is the first cafe in the world to make boba in-store, according to the website. Texas’ first location opened in Carrollton last December.The lead barista at the new location, Justine Choi, says they have a full storage of tapioca starch recently imported from corporate headquarters in Taiwan, and each morning a local baker comes in to make the boba.The reality, however, is that some boba lovers will need to experiment with substitutes for a milk tea fix in the coming months. In an Instagram announcement, the suggest aloe jelly, grass jelly or pudding. San Francisco Chronicle journalist David Deloso writes that , a tea topping that creates a contrast in flavor rather than texture, as boba does.Another substitute is “popping boba,” a sodium alginate shell filled with juices and flavored liquids. Popping boba doesn’t require ingredients from Asia, but it was produced only in Asia until recently.Dallas-based Pecan Deluxe Candy Co., which has been manufacturing food and beverage ingredients for over 60 years, announced that it is now selling a popping boba product.Marketing manager Tara Gonzales says Pecan Deluxe had been watching the worldwide growth of boba popularity for years and realized there was a gap. “We have seen an exponential increase in demand and are prepared for it as we become the exclusive manufacturer of the product in the U.S.,” she says.Straight answers from vendors about when the real thing will become available are hard to come by, though. After contacting , and , only Possmei responded, saying boba “is on the way.”Bubble teas have certainly gained favor with Americans since the . A mid-pandemic revealed bubble tea was the No. 1 delivery item in three states, including California.It’s a drink many consider to be as essential as the quotidian cup of coffee, and yes, this could be a crisis, depending on where you usually go. Because of this, however, it’s a good time to support those places that run out. Order with kindness, and maybe try a new substitute.Get the latest restaurant reviews, recipes and info on the wine/beer scene in D-FW.By signing up you agree to our

7:31 AM on Apr 19, 2021 CDTThe news of an impending boba shortage first came on April 8 when the co-owners of the , posted a announcing a national shortfall. The shortage is due to pandemic-related supply chain disruptions exacerbated by congested ports on the West Coast.Instead of importing from Taiwan like most distributors, US Boba manufactures the chewy tapioca pearls used in milk teas at its Hayward, Calif., factory, but to produce them, it still needs tapioca starch, which usually comes from Thailand.All products that regularly come from Asia, like apparel and electronics, could be...

Boba shortage in Dallas: Smaller tea shops feeling the sting

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