It’s the great candy cane crisis of 2021.
Weak peppermint cultures and logistical issues caused by COVID have posed a problem for Big Candy.
“We only got half of our candy cane order for the holiday season and sold out almost immediately. We don’t currently have any in stock,” Mitchell Cohen, owner of Economy Candy on the Lower East Side, told The Post. “The global scarcity of raw materials and ingredients has had a major impact.”
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It was a first for the store, which has been in business since 1937. Cohen said they sold more than 12,000 candy canes before they went dry.
“We have had candy canes since the invention of candy canes,” he said.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, peppermint production in the United States has declined by nearly 25 percent over the past decade.
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“We can’t really make a gingerbread house without a candy cane tree, a candy cane door, or no candy cane,” Cohen said.
A survey of local retailers gave mixed answers: some are crammed with candy canes, others struggle to keep the delicious confectionery and sometimes tree decorations in stock.
“I can’t find candy canes anywhere,” complained a blogger for New Jersey radio station WOBM. “And it’s not like the boxes are empty. There are no boxes.”
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Economy Candy says fans of peppermint flavored candy canes aren’t the only people suffering from it. The cute boutique sold out early for both its kale and ham flavored candy canes.
