Ketchup Shortage Creates New Market for All Your Old Packets
A ketchup shortage vexing restaurants has fueled a secondary market—an underground trade in coveted ketchup packets. Diners with the good fortune to have a stash of saved ketchup packets are listing them on eBay Inc. and Facebook Inc.’s Marketplace to make a buck off the pandemic’s latest supply-chain constraint.
Lindsey Cohen, a retiree from Indianapolis, logged onto eBay and posted 20 Heinz ketchup packets for sale for $8 after The Wall Street Journal reported April 5 on restaurants’ squeezed ketchup supplies. Ms. Cohen, who said she amassed her collection during fast-food stops on a recent road trip, typically uses eBay to clear clutter from her house but thought hawking ketchup sounded like fun. About 12 hours later, the packets sold. “I’ve never gone so far as to sell condiments,” said Ms. Cohen. With ketchup, she said, “I jumped on the bandwagon.”
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The pandemic forced full-service restaurants to turn to packets instead of their usual bottles out of sanitary concerns, fueling a spike in demand and straining supplies. Kraft Heinz Co. has put priority on supplying fast-food and drive-through restaurants, whose sales recovered faster than those of sit-down restaurants so far. Many eBay sellers said they heard news of the shortage and realized they needed to strike while the iron, or grill, was hot. Some recalled how individual squares of toilet paper sold on eBay during the shortage of that staple in the early days of the pandemic; they didn’t want to miss out on a potential ketchup rush.
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Kraft Heinz says ketchup packets will retain their best flavor for nine months. After that, they likely won’t harm you, but the ketchup might not taste as good.
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Some see the ketchup shortage bringing people together. Packet hoarders from Milwaukee and New York’s Bronx borough have inquired whether they could donate their stashes to restaurants in need. A few eBay sellers said they posted ketchup packets to try to raise money for charity, such as the Autism Research Institute.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/ketchup-packet-savers-squeeze-them-for-profits-11618412629 (subscription)
= new reply since forum marked as read
Why didn't I clear the shelf of all the bottles of ketchup that were there when I had the chance?
Also, what shortage? The top shelf stuff might be in short supply, but I could have had all the Burman's ketchup my heart desired.
When people drive stolen cars through the front door of the Aldi at four a.m. and take nothing but ketchup, then it's for real.
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and don't get me started on ranch dressing 
unlikely as this would be. 
I could do a return to those little paper cups just fine.
