The Spam Craze -- What's Going On? July 20, 2021

Earlier today:  on Shepard Smith tonight -- the craze in Spam! What's going on? Quick: who owns Spam. By the way, I reported some months ago there was a Spam shortage -- even Costco had a sign at the door telling customers they were sold out. 

In anticipation for Shepard Smith's report, let's see what's already out there.

• KITV, September 1, 2020: Hormel warns that there could be a shortage of Spam.
• guilyyeats.com, January, 2021: why is Spam sold out in stores? Clickbait; worthless.
• babbletop.com, February 8, 2021: ten upcoming food shortages you need to know about in 2021;
• 10: flour
• 9: corn, canned
• 8: soup
• 7: meat, Tyson
• 6: beer industry, aluminum
• 5: seeds
• 4: snack packs
• 3: milk
• 2: bottled water
• 1: Spam -- I can't make this stuff 

From that last article:

A lot of people make fun of SPAM, but it is actually a popular food.

SPAM is a fully cooked meat, so it can be eaten directly from the can without any heating.

This canned pork product debuted in 1937 but really gained notoriety a few years later due to the demand posed by World War II.  

SPAM is particularly popular in certain tropical areas such as Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Honolulu even has a SPAM day with a parade. When the pandemic hit and many governments reacted with a stay at home order, people began to experience food shortages. SPAM experienced a 70% jump in sales in the winter and spring of 2020. This kind of increased demand is nearly impossible to keep up with, at least not in the short term. Hormel, the company that makes SPAM, put out a news release in September saying customers could possibly experience shortages.

The company explained that some of the meat processing plants where Hormel gets its pork had to shut down for various amounts of time because of health concerns related to the virus. The company has promised its customers to look into ways to increase the production of SPAM and prevent any future shortages.

Let’s hope that the lockdowns don’t last very far into 2021 and further shortages don’t materialize so that people can eat SPAM whenever they want.

Can't wait to see Shepard Smith's report tonight, although I'll probably miss it. [Later: saw the Shepard Smith report: a disappointment. Nothing new and a re-hash (no pun intended) of the above.]

If you go through the top ten list at babbletop.com, it's easy to see why Spam is in a class by itself and sitting at #1. 

Quick, pop quiz: of the top ten list above, why is Spam #1? There is one simple reason and it's taught in every "Econ 101" class in college.