Supply contraction continues to cause shortages of goods and higher prices

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The global supply shortage means that pet food, cars and even mayonnaise are running low.

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While unpacking a shipment of products at his Bark & ​​Meow pet store, Charles Ng considers himself lucky that everything has arrived, this time.

“While there have been supply problems, the real impact is due to my customers,” said Ng. “There have been supply problems with Royal Canin cat food. And many of them have switched to a different brand as a result. ”
In the wake of the pandemic, it has struggled to ensure that certain specialty products arrive, not just on time, but not at all.

A supplier from the Netherlands stopped shipping to Canada because the availability of containers is so scarce that their cost tripled.

Across town, shortages are a major hurdle in downtown Toyota.

“This is the worst inventory situation we’ve been in in the forty years I’ve been in the auto business. I’ve never seen anything like this, ”said owner Shahid Alizadeh, who has ten dealerships selling thirteen brands.

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You have never seen your showrooms so empty of inventory.

Distributors typically have a 60-75 day supply.

Alizadeh said most of hers have been reduced to just ten days.

“This is real,” he said of a problem that affects every facet of his industry: from electronic chips to the cost of the shipping container and parts.

“This is a case of a real problem that has struck us between the eyes.”

His opinion is that this will take between a year and a half to two years to fix.

When a shipment of potatoes arrived at his Danforth restaurant, The Edmund Burke, Russell Piffer and Ginger Robertson describe how some raw produce is bogged down in a supply slowdown.

“The costs are insane,” Robertson said. “The mayonnaise has disappeared from the shelves due to a canola problem.”

The general shortage has raised the prices of what they need to run their restaurants.

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“The take-out containers have been uploaded. Everything is absolutely through the roof. I look at the bills that come in and I can’t believe it, ”Robertson said.

Her husband and business partner said the closure, followed by the reopening, set the table for the impact of the global economic system.

“The demand was very low and now it is very high,” Piffer said.

Some restaurants fear that some wines will not be available.

In 15 years in the industry, I’ve never seen it like this, ”said Greg Batters of La Fenice on King St. W.

“Three of my wine suppliers mentioned to me that their recommendation for the holiday season would be to make a weekly wine list instead of a standard one. They cannot promise to have the same labels or vintages in stock. “