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Canned-pumpkin shortage may not be over, sellers say

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By Mark Fisher, Staff Writer Updated 11:36 PM Monday, September 27, 2010

Spokesmen for two area grocery store chains say holiday dessert-makers may face a canned-pumpkin shortage again this year, despite assurances from a major supplier that the crop looks promising.

“The industry never caught up from last year,” said Frank Guglielmi, spokesman for Meijer. “As of today, we have a full stock and extra cases in the back, but in a month — we’ll see.”

Last fall, canned pumpkin was gone from local shelves as early as Thanksgiving in some places. On eBay, cans of pumpkin sold for $6 or $7 apiece, several times the normal price, as supplies dwindled.

Nestle, which sells about 85 percent of the canned pumpkin in the U.S. under its Libby’s brand, said customer inquiries have grown fivefold since last fall, when it warned it might not have enough to get through the holidays.

The canned pumpkin market is worth $141 million in the U.S. About 80 percent of those sales come in the last three months of the year, according to research group IBIS World.

Normally, Nestle’s fall harvest yields enough pumpkin to last until the next year. But its farm in Morton, Ill. — the source of nearly all its pumpkins — received nearly double the typical rainfall last year and much of the crop rotted in the fields.

This year, Nestle said it planted extra and early. The weather has cooperated so far. Despite the producer’s outlook, there is still a shortage of the Libby’s brand for at least one area grocery outlet.

Tom Winter, vice president of marketing for Dorothy Lane Market, said the three-store chain had not been able to buy any until recently, when its chief supplier made some Libby’s canned pumpkin available — but limited DLM to two cases per order.

Kroger spokeswoman Rachael Betzler said the Cincinnati-based chain has “plenty” of canned pumpkin in its stores and warehouse.

The

Associated Press

contributed to this story.

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