Supply chain issues creating havoc throughout the economy are particularly affecting the label business for alcohol, CBS Sacramento has reported.
Transportation, logistics and weather, supply chain issues which have hit most industries, are harming the label business at every step.
“Adhesives which have been affected by the Texas freeze and you’ve got paper stuck at the ports,” Rancho Cordova’s Capitol Label owner Michael Mellon said, meaning that the two key components of a label are now more difficult to obtain.
Although as of now labels for a local craft beer are rolling through the printer at his business, Mellon said he is not sure how much longer it will last, adding that “we don’t want to over order and have it sit here too long, but we don’t want to run short.”
Another complication, Mellon explained, is that when it comes to alcohol, it’s bigger than the design, because “you can’t be compliant with state laws without a label.”
The supply chain issues are also making it more difficult to get wine bottles, with one winemaker telling CBS Sacramento that his bottle vendor told him they are “all out of wine bottles.”
He said that “I ordered a container from China of the bottles we need. The first container took a month or two longer to arrive in port and cost me 50% more than I was initially quoted because of price increases.”
A particular problem is the Port of Oakland, through which more than 99% of containerized goods in Northern California move, either in or out.
Currently, however, many of those goods are stuck at the port, or just not making it there.
Western ports, in general, have been problematic, which increases the supply chain issues nationwide, as some 40% of all container cargo in the United States arrives through western ports, and 30% of the country’s exports go out this way.
In the meantime, some wineries are trying to make do with what they can. For example, Voluptuary and Lucid Wines is about to change to a new supply chain for bottles since, even though they look different from their usual bottles, at least they are available.