RHONA WISE/AFP/Getty Images
- Carnival Cruise Line is dealing with a bacon shortage on its ships.
- The company will temporarily only serve bacon every other day on its ships to combat the shortage.
- "If we serve it every day, we will have run out by the end of the week," said its brand ambassador.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Bacon is in short supply on the menus of the world's biggest cruise company, Carnival Cruise.
In a video posted to Facebook, Carnival's brand ambassador John Heald said suppliers who service the cruise industry are facing challenges sourcing bacon for their ships.
Due to the shortage, Heald said the cruise line will set up a schedule for when bacon is served to passengers. "We are going to have to temporarily move to an every-other-day schedule for bacon at the Lido buffet," he said.
He added: "If you see a sign saying 'Today, we're not serving bacon, don't worry, it's going to be back the next day."
Bacon – and its potential lack of availability – has made further headlines recently. Earlier this month, some restaurant owners raised fears about how a change in animal-welfare rules taking force next year could make bacon difficult to find and more expensive to buy in California.
At the start of next year, California will enforce a welfare proposition, which was approved by voters in 2018. The Farm Animal Confinement Proposition, or Proposition 12, requires more space for breeding pigs, egg-laying chickens, and veal calves.
The idea is that all of those animals should have sufficient space to stretch out their wings, claws, and paws, as Insider's Hilary Brueck reported. Welfare campaigners have been pushing for the change for years.
Courts or the state could try and intervene between now and January but if they don't, California could lose almost all of its pork supply and pork producers will likely face higher costs to regain the market, AP reported.
Bacon costs are already rising. Insider's Anna Cooban reported in June that it cost 13% more than last year, which is apparently due to supply shortages and rising costs of pig feed.
The cost of bacon rose 1.8% between April and May, according to BLS data, although this was a slower increase than March to April, when bacon prices jumped 3.4%.
Despite a shortage of the popular breakfast item on Carnival's cruise lines, Heald made it clear that the company won't be rationing bacon. "We are not going to ration you and say you can only have one piece. But if we serve it every day, we will have run out by the end of the week," he said.
He also added that the new schedule will not be permanent. "This is not a cutback, this is a genuine problem that we, as a company, are having."
The bacon shortage will not impact Carnival's ability to stock other breakfast favorites, Heald said. Items such as ham and sausage will still be in good supply.
The cruise industry recently opened its doors to the public following an almost year-long halt in operations due to the pandemic.
Guests were eager to return to the sea and Carnival said that booking volumes skyrocketed as a result.
In a second-quarter business update, the company said that booking volumes for future cruises were 45% higher than during the first quarter, Insider's Grace Dean reported. Advance bookings for 2022 were already higher than in 2019, according to the report.