- Kraft is offering $20 digital coupons for non-cheesecake holiday dessert items this season.
- The promotion is a response to a nationwide cream cheese shortage that has left bagel shops and bakeries scrambling.
- According to Kraft, the shortage is the result of "unprecedented demand" due to more people cooking at home during the pandemic.
Though the nationwide cream cheese shortage may leave many holiday dinner tables devoid of classic desserts like cheesecake this year, Kraft wants to help make up for the loss.
The company will reimburse up to $20 on a dessert of your choosing to replace homemade cheesecakes that call for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, a Kraft-owned brand. Starting on December 17, consumers can log on to SpreadTheFeeling.com to claim a limited number of $20 digital rewards toward a holiday dessert purchased through December 24.
"For the past 150 years, Philadelphia cream cheese has been a staple in American households, especially around the holidays," Philadelphia Marketing Director Basak Oguz said in a statement. "As we continue to see elevated and sustained demand, we want to want to ensure that there's enough cream cheese for bagels, cheesecakes, and everything in-between."
The promotion comes as cream cheese supply has grown increasingly scarce in recent weeks amid the ongoing supply chain crisis. According to Kraft, the shortage is the result of "unprecedented demand" due to more people cooking at home during the pandemic and using cream cheese "as an ingredient in easy desserts and recipes, and at breakfast time."
Around the country, the cream cheese shortage is being felt everywhere from bagel shops to famous cheesecake destinations like Junior's in New York City, which uses more than five million pounds a year and is one of the top five consumers of cream cheese in the country. According to the company, some employees have started crossing state lines in order to find supply for their confections.
"Sunday bagels are sacred," Christopher Pugliese, the owner of Tompkins Square Bagels, told the New York Times earlier this month. "I hate feeling like I've let people down."