‘Suddenly the pearls are depleting’: Canadian bubble tea shops, suppliers face boba shortage

The obstruction of the Suez Canal in March has had some far reaching impacts in unexpected areas.

Dennis Fuentes runs the Toronto, mom-and-pop bubble tea shop Sweet Shady Shack with his wife, Elena. He says they weren’t aware that there was a tapioca pearl shortage in Canada until a customer brought it to their attention.

“Our preferred supplier encountered a delay in their tapioca supply shipment and that meant we had to order from a different supplier. Other than that, we haven’t had any difficulty procuring tapioca so far. But now, maybe we have to be wary,” Fuentes said.

Founder of Vancouver-based supplier, Bubble Tea Canada, Greg Tieu, knew he would be facing shortages of bubble tea supplies as soon as he heard about the container ship blocking the Suez Canal trade route, which he says is the main cause for the shortage, on top of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“We knew the ripple effects that were about to come and the world market prices that would set. We estimate the delay is going to last around three to four months if we’re lucky,” Tieu said.

Bubble tea, a tea-based drink which originates from Taiwan, most commonly consists of chewy tapioca pearls or boba, but it can be made with other toppings as well. Bubble Tea Canada provides boba supplies to businesses in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta.

Tieu says they usually send about two skids of supplies to Alberta each month. That has now scaled back to one skid per month amongst other items such as disposable cups.

“We are still waiting for our one full truck container of tapioca pearls from Asia that is part of this backlog. It’s been delayed by three weeks already,” he said.

Tieu says they haven’t had to increase their wholesale prices, despite the backlog, as most of their medium sized clients such as cafes and restaurants are already struggling because of the pandemic. But he says some people are still panicking.

“During the pandemic, there was a toilet paper shortage, it’s similar to that nature. People just panic, they just stock up like crazy, and suddenly the pearls are depleting,” he said.

Tieu adds Bubble Tea Canada will be able to maintain their supply for another two months before alarming any concerns, but there is still hope as the delay won’t last forever, and some businesses and suppliers are able to maintain the current boba supply chain for the next few months.

“Like the toilet paper and Lysol wipes that ran out of stock from panic-buying consumers, we know this backlog and shortage will pass, and get back to normal hopefully soon,” he said.